OakLeaf Surgery Hospital Moves to MEDITECH Expanse
The Client
Surgery Partners is a leading operator of surgical hospitals and ancillary services with more than 180 locations nationwide. They have 12,000 employees and are affiliated with 4,600 physicians. They help more than 600,000 patients annually.
The Facility
OakLeaf Surgical Hospital, in Altoona, WI, is a private hospital designed exclusively for surgery. Their 52 surgeons in 15 specialties offer surgical procedures on an outpatient or overnight stay basis. Concerns with their dated EHR and associated reporting led Surgery Partners to enlist the support of CereCore to help determine the options available in a next generation EHR solution for OakLeaf. CereCore had partnered with Surgery Partners to assess their healthcare technology platform and to advise on and support some improvements. Given CereCore’s existing relationship and knowledge of multiple EHR solutions, we were prepared to assist in the selection and implementation services required for OakLeaf.
How We Helped
Surgery Partners is an organization focused on delivering surgical services that offer patients and providers an alternative. MEDITECH was their electronic health record of choice and when a new version of MEDITECH, Expanse, was available, Surgery Partners was interested in implementing this modern, clinical workflow-centric system for their OakLeaf location.
Built on our current relationship to take on a monumental task. CereCore was already involved in supporting Surgery Partners with hosting services for their legacy version of MEDITECH. We helped them with support for billing, accounts receivable, surgical suite, clinical documentation, and laboratory services working as extensions of their own team resources. This made us a natural choice to assist with Surgery Partners’ next generation EHR.
Joined our IT forces for long-term success. The combination of CereCore experience and Surgery Partners’ strong healthcare IT team was key to the success of this implementation. CereCore offers implementation services that require a more moderate and workable level of involvement and participation from an organization’s IT team. OakLeaf's team was interested and able to be involved at a more detailed level which made a huge difference at the end of the transition. When it was time for the hospital to function with its resident support and no outside assistance, they were ready.
Addressed concerns early and often to instill confidence. This was not Surgery Partners’ first experience with an Expanse implementation. In a previous implementation, they had partnered with a different consulting group that unfortunately did not prepare the organization to function without the consulting group’s support. CereCore’s approach is foundationally intentional about designing and executing communication and training plans so the team can and did achieve the self-sufficiency their long-term strategy required.
Involved, supportive leadership for quick decisions. All the necessary roles from CereCore and OakLeaf’s top leadership including the CEO (also VP of Operations at Surgery Partners), and IT management were involved from the beginning. All attended pivotal meetings to make decisions, facilitated conversations with physicians, and ensured we worked as a team to accomplish what was an important strategic objective for OakLeaf and for the Surgery Partners organization.
Results
Increased capacity for hospital IT team by shifting to a managed MEDITECH hosting model
Assisted with the final selection of a modern EHR to support OakLeaf’s future growth
Expanded the digital knowledgebase for multiple areas including billing, accounts receivable, order entry, surgical services, clinical documentation, and laboratory
Implemented a modern, next generation EHR
Designed and incorporated improved workflows to support physician satisfaction and focus on quality patient care
Improved and enhanced the Surgery Partners delivery model with additional anesthesia software
What the Client has to Say
“The project went so well. I am so proud of my team here, my MEDITECH team, our staff, our physicians, and certainly, we could not have done it if we did not have the right partners. For the CIOs on a project like this, it takes a village, and we were never afraid.”
| Anne Hargrave-Thomas, CEO of OakLeaf Surgical Hospital and vice president of operations at Surgery Partners
“We brought our anesthesia group electronic from paper and having that information in an electronic way has also been very helpful.There are many things that are impactful throughout the hospital and so much more to come. This is just the beginning.”
| Cory Lane, director of operations at OakLeaf Surgical Hospital
CereCore® provides IT services that make it easier for you to
CereCore® provides IT services that make it easier for you to focus on supporting hospital operations and transforming healthcare through technology. With a heritage rooted in our nation’s top-performing hospitals, we serve as leaders and experts in technology, operations, data security, and clinical applications. We partner with clients to become an extension of the team through comprehensive IT and application support, technical professional and managed services, IT advisory services, and EHR consulting, because we know firsthand the power that integrated technology has on patient care and communities.
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