Parrish Health

Swift MEDITECH Conversion Meets Meaningful Use Requirements, Adds New Functionality

The Client

• Parrish Medical Center

The Facility

• 210 Licensed Beds
• Short-term Acute Care

Results

• Achieved Meaningful Use quickly
• Advanced remote managed services support – free up FTE focus
• Rapidly deployed methodology to meet accelerated timeline
• Created a cost saving staffing model with minimum implementation consultants
• Allowed hospital staff to focus on new platform and adoption of new processes
• Strong ROI

The Challenge

Parrish Medical Center was ready to upgrade from MEDITECH Magic to MEDITECH 6.x—its first major build-out in decades. However, with a fixed budget, a tight deadline and its internal IT team focused on maintaining existing systems, the medical center needed the right boots-on-the-ground help to handle the implementation.

In 2011, with meaningful use Stage 1 criteria looming, the timing was right for a new IT platform. Plus, a new system would eliminate redundant technologies and add new functionality for clinicians and physicians. By 2013, however, plans had stalled after the medical center was told that the new IT platform they had chosen to implement was going to be sunset. The medical center ultimately selected to upgrade to MEDITECH 6.x., with the addition of new modules they needed to meet meaningful use Stage 1, Year 1 criteria.

The medical center, however, needed a strong partner with a comprehensive, proven fast-track solution to upgrade to the new clinical and financial platform with additional modules, which included computerized physician order entry (CPOE), bedside medication verification (BMV) and an electronic medical record (EMR). The upgrade would also have to address requirements for meaningful use Stage 2 criteria.

How We Helped

CereCore helped Parrish Medical Center roll out MEDITECH 6.x, focusing on creating new workflows, providing staff training and implementing advanced best practices.

This included four key elements:

• Core Services. CereCore offered MEDITECH implementation services, ICD-10 support, revenue cycle resources, help desk support, Tier 2 MEDITECH support, clinical informatics services and third-party project management services. CereCore also provided additional support, such as an interim clinical informatics director, interim HIM management and operating room management resources.
• Advanced Managed Services. CereCore leveraged its managed services team to maintain the medical center’s legacy system remotely, allowing internal MEDITECH staff to remain focused on the project. The result: fewer implementation consultants required onsite, dramatically reducing costs.
• MEDITECH Rapid Implementation and Consulting Team. The CereCore team, which has deep hospital expertise, and MEDITECH 6.x experience were able to meet goals faster and problem solve more efficiently.
• Advanced Training and Support. Training incorporated the entire patient workflow from admission to discharge, and included physicians and hospital staff. CereCore also collaborated on hospital floors with clinical staff, held twice-daily talks and remained onsite 24/7 during the go-live period.

The Results

MEDITECH 6.x was fully implemented by the target go-live date and all hospital areas reported smooth operations while seamlessly operating multiple areas, such as help desk, the clinical informatics department and revenue integrity initiatives. The medical center also met its meaningful use Stage 1, Year 1 reporting criteria. Additionally, it added a new data repository, consolidated scanning and archiving capabilities and provided physicians and clinicians with a faster and more intuitive navigation.

“With CereCore’s help we took an 18-month process and narrowed it down to eight, while taking on three huge modules and getting clinical positions to start using order entry in ways they had never done before,” says Tim Skeldon, executive vice president corporate finance. As a result, Parrish Medical Center experienced more than $1 million in cost-savings. “What truly differentiated CereCore was that they were a partner equally invested in our project goals and timelines, and in balancing how we engaged resources.”