Inside Duke Medicine
Ambulatory Team — Preparation, Teamwork Made for Successful Go-Live
posted October 26th, 2012
During the first hours of Wave 2 go-live on Wednesday, October 10, Priscilla Fontaine, RN, (center) from the EP Clinic look to the Maestro Care on-site support staff, Alli Van Lue and Sandra Thomas for guidance in the system.
Wave 2 go-live went even better than she expected, said Heather Morton, a nurse and clinical liaison with the Duke Maestro Care ambulatory team.
“The users, providers, clinical leaders and the members of the ambulatory team put in an enormous amount of time in preparation for Wave 2, and it really paid off,” said Morton. “Wave 2 was particularly challenging because we had so many specialties, with their varying workflows, going live. But on go-live day, it was amazing how smooth it all went.”
Morton, who provides direct support to clinicians and clinic staff, was just one part of the team’s efforts to help staff in 34 clinical sites at 20 locations go-live with Duke Maestro Care on Oct. 10.
"No matter how much you prepare, there are going to be unexpected issues that arise, but the ambulatory team, the super users, clinic leadership, as well as all the providers and staff, put a lot of work into preparation," said Simon Curtis, deployment lead. “Plus, we had learned lessons from Wave 1 we could apply. They all worked together for a go-live that went really, really well.”
As just one example, Curtis said, experience from Wave 1 led to more structured, scenario-driven dress rehearsals, which allowed clinics to more closely experience specialty-specific workflows prior to go-live.
“Based on Wave 1 experience, we also worked closely with HCAs to ensure printers were properly placed, installed and working for Wave 2 go-live,” he said. “With that issue resolved, there was more time to focus on supporting the new workflows.”
The preparation paid off: for Wave 2, there 259 technical support tickets on Day 1, compared with 500 on the first day of Wave 1 go-live.
“In addition to our preparation, we had all the experience we gained during Wave 1 and the weeks after that,” said Rebecca Casp-Cheek, e-prescribing and orders build lead analyst. “Now, we’ll have the experience that we’ve gained from Wave 2 to help us succeed in Wave 3 next spring.”