CCH’s Epic Implementation Well Underway

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CCH’s Epic Implementation Well Underway

GILLETTE, Wyo. – Oct. 10, 2022 – Campbell County Health continues its journey to become the first choice for healthcare in wellness in Wyoming. Epic implementation formally kicked off in August 2022 to replace the Meditech Electronic Health Record system (EHR). Epic will launch on September 16, 2023, with many significant enhancements to the patient and employee experiences.

Why the change? EHRs are part of the critical infrastructure of modern healthcare facilities. In its most basic form, an EHR is an electronic and real-time version of a patient’s paper chart. EHRs have become much more than simple patient charts over the years. Modern EHRs can contain charting of patient medical history, treatment plans, immunization dates, allergies, and test results. EHRs can also streamline the workflow for providers, provide easy-to-use patient portals, enable online billing, and allow online appointment requests. EHRs even provide tools that providers can use to enhance the level of care they provide their patients. Epic is among the most robust EHRs and has quickly become the standard at large healthcare organizations. If you travel and require medical care – chances are that Epic is the EHR at the hospital you choose. Epic implementation improves interoperability across healthcare organizations, so patients need fewer medical records in fewer EHR systems.

Many of the changes are internally facing – though the benefits and enhancements will make themselves clear to the community. That said, there are exciting external facing changes on the horizon. For example, a new patient portal will enable patients and customers to access bills, schedule appointments quickly, and access their medical records. As we get closer to launch, CCH will share further details about Epic’s enhancements to the patient experience.

How is CCH accomplishing this change? Usually, an organization the size of CCH struggles to gather the resources necessary to be eligible to implement Epic, and the cost of implementation can be steep. Our affiliation with UCHealth has allowed us to overcome these barriers. UCHealth has been assisting CCH with this daunting but crucial transformation so that we can provide the very best in EHR infrastructure to the Northeast Wyoming community. CCH’s implementation of Epic through UCHealth will come in at a fraction of the cost of implementation without a large affiliate partner – roughly $8 million. Comparable healthcare organizations could easily expect to pay double that cost for a solo implementation.

Where are we now? CCH recently completed the “Discovery” phase of the Epic implementation process, where UCHealth spent time here at CCH understanding our current system. Epic implementation is no simple task. The UCHealth team will create our Epic build for CCH based on the unique needs of our organization. CCH is currently in the “Workflow Walkthrough & Configuration” phase of our implementation, where UCHealth has given CCH the opportunity to experience Epic firsthand, ask questions, and seek clarifications before our Epic build commences. At the time of this news release, employees across CCH – both clinical and non-clinical – are visiting UCHealth facilities to see Epic in action in healthcare facilities.

What’s next? This winter, CCH will enter the “User & System Readiness” phase of Epic implementation. For the first time, employees will begin to interact with our Epic build. This phase is a time for testing, fixes, modifications, and finalizing our Epic build. Seamlessly afterward, in the Spring of 2023, “Training & Go-Live Prep” will begin. All employees and providers across CCH will be trained thoroughly in Epic to ensure a smooth launch. Epic is set to go-live at CCH in September of 2023. This timeline is incredibly fast for such an undertaking. It wouldn’t be possible without the tremendous help of UCHealth, and, most notably, the dedication and efforts of every CCH employee. We are incredibly excited to share where we are in this process with the community. We are equally as excited to continue sharing where the organization heads next as we continue this epic journey.

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