|
|
Implementation Process
When two cancer care facilities merged to form HealthAlliance
(HA), a medical oncology practice in Massachusetts, they went
from having no computers to relying on them almost completely a
year and a half later, according to Mary Newcombe, program
director of the cancer center. In 2000, Newcombe, HA’s nurse
manager Mary Jane Ruth, and office supervisor Sharon Wheeler
were responsible for selecting the software systems and
directing overall implementation. “Fortunately,” noted Ruth,
“our CIO Rick Mohnk had previously worked with IMPAC and pointed
us in that direction, but we spent a year interviewing many
vendors. Senior management was impressed with its benefits for
patient safety, specifically its ability to eliminate potential
errors arising from illegible hand writing, as well as the fact
it was cost-effective and user-friendly.”
Efficiency
Scheduling is much faster with IMPAC compared to manually
maintaining multiple books; IMPAC’s electronic transcription
expedites electronically copying physician notes to other
physicians—cutting days off the process; and now that all
doctors and nurses have wireless laptops and all staff have
access to a laptop or PC, everyone has immediate access to all
the information that’s needed. “Before IMPAC, physicians were at
one end of the hall, nurses at the other, and literally, even
with lots of running up and down the hall, finding charts was
always a problem. IMPAC puts charts on everybody’s desktop,”
explained Newcombe, who noted that when she recently needed an
immediate audit report, she completed in just 45 minutes what,
pre-IMPAC, would have taken at least five hours.
Collaboration
“IMPAC has always worked closely with HealthAlliance, listened
to our suggestions, and been available to help us optimize
programs. If they don’t have an immediate answer to questions,
they always follow though on their commitments,” said Ruth. And,
noted Wheeler, “We like immediate gratification and have also
learned how to build our own changes into the system. It’s fast,
easy, and we can test at once.” HA staff finds IMPAC user
meetings give them the opportunity to learn from other IMPAC
users.
Evolving
Capabilities
Already using multiple solutions from IMPAC, HA plans to add more
as rapidly as possible. “Each time we make a change in our
practice, we add a piece of IMPAC. In our next upgrade, we’ll
use IMPAC for clinical research. The more electronic we become,
the more streamlined our process. It’s important to have
software that grows and changes, and so far, IMPAC continues to
do that,” said Newcombe. |
|
 |
|
The HealthAlliance staff using the IMPAC system.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
[Email
Us] |
|
|
