May 24, 2011 Bobbie Byrne, M.D.
Sitting on my book shelves immediately across from my desk are thick binders. They are the printed copies of the written information that we received from the vendors that we asked to respond to our request for proposal and quotation. Our entire scoring mechanism is trying to put words into something numeric so here is my pass at RFPs by the numbers.
April 18, 2011 Bobbie Byrne, M.D.
In our EHR implementation project plan, we had built in a specific “go-no go” decision point. This decision point was scheduled prior to the start of training as, once we were scheduled to begin training, it would mean the expenditure of a whole lot of time, energy and cash. Prior to the “go-no go date,” IT owners meet with all the business owners, review the current module and issues and obtain physical sign-off.
February 28, 2011 Bobbie Byrne, M.D.
Are you sick of HIMSS 2011? If yes, you can skip this post, and move on to checking your Groupon for the day, the weather or your horoscope, because this is my set of reflections on HIMSS 2011. It has taken me a few days to process the entire sensory overload, so here goes…
February 8, 2011 Bobbie Byrne, M.D.
Like every other hospital, we have disaster drills. We have plans. We have competencies to be tested against. But then this disaster hit and the one thing happened that we did not have a great plan for—a mobile command center.
January 19, 2011
When I was a second year resident in pediatrics, I saw an 8-year-old girl in the emergency department for a cold. In many ways she was typical of many kids I saw at that time. The ED was full of non-emergency cases, and access to medical care was a challenge for these families. The emergency room was convenient, and we had the best graham crackers and popsicles.
January 10, 2011
We are implementing Meditech 6.0 with a planned go live on May 1st. Our initial go live had been November, 2010. We pushed it back for some specific workflow enhancements that were needed mostly for the emergency department workflows. Edward’s emergency department rocks. It has excellent processes and great staff. It is almost paperless. The patient satisfaction scores are among the highest in the nation. The wait times are so reasonable that we advertise them. There was no way that IT was going to muck that up!
December 1, 2010
The other day, I was getting on an elevator after a meeting with our ED physician informaticist. I was complaining about how, if we did not get our Careworks project done soon, I was going to pull my hair out. Even though the organization pledges undying support for the massive Meditech install, my comrades continue to request more projects.
November 2, 2010
A few weeks ago I wrote about my experience sitting through some vendor demos—some were mind-numbingly boring and some were great. Since then, we have moved a bit further in one of the selections. Edward requires a product for what is an immature information technology market. There are only a few vendors who provide this technology. Nobody in the organization has any personal experience in this segment.
October 26, 2010
Within the first month of working at Edward, I noticed the five-inch binders prepared for each Board of Trustees meeting. One of the administrative assistants would relentlessly hunt down the agenda item owners to get the material as soon as possible. Presentations or supporting documentation were printed and copied. They were couriered to the board member’s home ahead of time. Some duplicate copies were carried to the meeting on a cart. It was the latest in 1980s meeting preparation technology, hot off the Xerox machine!
October 13, 2010
Picture this scene. You walk in the door and immediately get accosted for something you did or did not do. Just after hanging up your coat, you realize you have spilled coffee on your shirt. You fall into your chair realizing that you really do not have any time to put your feet up as you have a significant deadline looming. You then give a big sigh of relief as you pet the dog. You can actually feel your blood pressure fall and your neck muscles relax as your fingers run through the soft coat. The dog leans up to nudge your side and you laugh. Her wagging tail gently slaps the side of your leg. The stress melts away. Is this at home, sitting in a comfy chair with the family pooch? Nope. This is my office at the hospital.
