When UNC HCS launched Epic@UNC’s “one patient, one chart” electronic medical records (EMR)s system in 2014, the step served as a workflow efficiency initiative to support UNC’s strength in patient care as a top-tier academic medical center. As with Epic@UNC, the Department of Radiology routinely implements its own workflow improvements guided by best practices in modern healthcare.
When UNC Health Care System (UNC HCS) identifies challenges to workflow, it applies consolidation measures to preserve the efficiency expected of a top-tier academic medical center. In spring 2014, UNC HCS launched Epic@UNC, transitioning to an integrated “one patient, one chart” electronic medical records (EMR)s system. Epic@UNC became UNC HCS’ most significant step in decades toward centralized records-keeping.
As CEO of UNC Faculty Physicians, I played an instrumental role in the planning and development of Epic@UNC. Such involvement gave me the unique advantage of watching an efficiency-driven initiative enable affiliated physician practices and hospitals statewide to store and access clinical data across all UNC HCS service lines and patient care units. Specific to my own department, our imaging services became enterprise-wide when Epic@UNC launched, allowing UNC HCS’ imaging providers to now interface system-wide, regardless of imaging vendor.
As with Epic@UNC, the Department of Radiology routinely implements its own workflow improvements guided by best practices in modern healthcare. Most recently, we addressed our lack of centralized faculty scheduling. At a fall 2015 strategic retreat, the desire to transition our nine clinical divisions to electronic scheduling was repeatedly voiced. We had reached a point where using network-based scheduling only sustained the burden of repeatedly disseminating updated calendars. Several SOM units with more efficient scheduling had already shifted to housing their provider calendars online to provide real-time, dynamic information. It was time for us to do likewise.
Our own Dr. Charles Burke — Vascular/Interventional Radiology (VIR) Division Chief and Vice Chair of Interventional Services – had already adopted a cloud-based, electronic scheduling application for the needs of his case-heavy division. Burke had learned of favorable experiences with a reputable physician scheduling application called QGenda from both private practice and academic radiologists. After an onsite product demonstration, the VIR division had found its efficiency solution in scheduling. Transitioning VIR to QGenda, Burke noted:
“Our scheduling had become increasingly complex. Many areas we cover needed to have an accurate, up-to-date, easily accessible schedule. We also needed move to a publishable calendar that would show patients scheduled several weeks or even months in advance with a specific doctor. There was no way to do so continuing to use manual scheduling.”
Influenced by VIR’s successful experience, the Department did its own research and decided to push ahead with Qgenda. For several months, Chair’s Office Executive Assistant Elizabeth Bowen worked closely with a planning team, the vendor and division chiefs to program division-specific rules and priorities allowing for formatting and assigning faculty schedules. When the Department launched QGenda on March 1st without a hitch, we became one of only a few patient care units across UNC HCS using cloud-based clinical scheduling.
A key QGenda pre-launch planning team member, Professor of Radiology Dr. Terry Wong explored software components that would most benefit division faculty, and eventually, trainees and other UNC HCS-affiliated imaging service line providers. As Nuclear Medicine Division Chief, Wong has greatly benefitted over the past few months from QGenda, noting:
“At the outset, the software’s biggest challenge was specifying division-specific rules and priorities of how faculty both should and want to be assigned. Once these criteria were established, I could use QGenda’s automation feature to create optimized schedules distributing clinical and academic assignments fairly and accurately over time.”
As we plan for pulling resident and fellow clinical schedules into Qgenda, we’re pleased that moving beyond network-based clinical scheduling now gives division chiefs the ease of assigning faculty to various locations, as well as monitoring meeting time, academic days and vacation while planning for optimal productivity at the outset of busy rotations. For those UNC HCS patient care units whose workflow is routinely challenged by inefficiencies, redundancy and disjointedness within the system, we hope more will look into online scheduling. Our providers deserve the increased equity and fairness that tools like Qgenda permit as valued contributors to the workflow of UNC HCS.