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Making inroads to reduce the administrative load for providers
In understanding root causes of the physician burnout problem across the nation, administrative workload and time drain associated with the electronic medical record (EMR) are leading contributors. The IU Health Cerner Uplift program works to improve efficiency and reduce unnecessary time in the EMR. This year the program is expanding to seven teams working with 15 additional physician service lines this year.
According to IU Health’s informatics leadership team, nearly 1,300 physicians participated in Cerner Uplift in 2017. Physicians who have been through the program are able to shave three minutes per patient from their EMR time (saving 45 minutes for a physician seeing 15 patients a day).
“I have been fortunate to be able to get my charts done at work recently, thanks to Dyn Doc,” says Girish Vitalpur, MD, pediatric allergist—immunologist, IU Health Physicians.
Providing updated functionality through the Uplift program is one aspect of the effort to make the EMR more efficient and reduce the burden on physicians.
“We are doing this to enable ourselves to connect to the mission of delivering excellent clinical care to our patients,” says Emily Webber, MD, pediatric hospitalist and chief medical information officer at Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health. Webber also serves as associate chief medical information officer for IU Health, and is part of IU Health’s informatics leadership team.
The informatics team is also working with IU Health Information Services on performance initiatives to speed up how the EMR performs, reduce unnecessary alerting and remove other waste in EMR.
“This is a critical part of the effort,” says Webber. “Slower EMR performance means I’m staring at the hourglass, and those seconds add up. Improving performance is like upgrading the engine of EMR itself, so that it searches and displays data more quickly.”
These efforts do not change the way clinicians work, but were shown to save all physicians, nurses and pharmacists 15 seconds per patient per day on average.
“I’m using PC Touch (mobile Cerner application) and my documentation time went down,” says Tim Imler, MD, gastroenterology, IU Health Physicians Digestive and Liver Disorders. “What used to take me three hours takes one hour now.”
Other inroads to reduce provider administrative time include:
“I feel now we have an action plan that will continue to yield results,” Webber said.
According to IU Health’s informatics leadership team, nearly 1,300 physicians participated in Cerner Uplift in 2017. Physicians who have been through the program are able to shave three minutes per patient from their EMR time (saving 45 minutes for a physician seeing 15 patients a day).
“I have been fortunate to be able to get my charts done at work recently, thanks to Dyn Doc,” says Girish Vitalpur, MD, pediatric allergist—immunologist, IU Health Physicians.
Providing updated functionality through the Uplift program is one aspect of the effort to make the EMR more efficient and reduce the burden on physicians.
“We are doing this to enable ourselves to connect to the mission of delivering excellent clinical care to our patients,” says Emily Webber, MD, pediatric hospitalist and chief medical information officer at Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health. Webber also serves as associate chief medical information officer for IU Health, and is part of IU Health’s informatics leadership team.
The informatics team is also working with IU Health Information Services on performance initiatives to speed up how the EMR performs, reduce unnecessary alerting and remove other waste in EMR.
“This is a critical part of the effort,” says Webber. “Slower EMR performance means I’m staring at the hourglass, and those seconds add up. Improving performance is like upgrading the engine of EMR itself, so that it searches and displays data more quickly.”
These efforts do not change the way clinicians work, but were shown to save all physicians, nurses and pharmacists 15 seconds per patient per day on average.
“I’m using PC Touch (mobile Cerner application) and my documentation time went down,” says Tim Imler, MD, gastroenterology, IU Health Physicians Digestive and Liver Disorders. “What used to take me three hours takes one hour now.”
Other inroads to reduce provider administrative time include:
- The consolidation of a single conflict of interest form for dually employed physicians (IU Health Physicians and IU School of Medicine) and affiliated faculty that historically required separate completion at both locations.
- Similar treatment for HIPAA annual mandatory training, with access and completion available via smart phone.
“I feel now we have an action plan that will continue to yield results,” Webber said.
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Ammon appointed vice president, Practice Operations
Kim Ammon, PT, MHA, has been appointed IU Health Physicians vice president, Practice Operations. Since October 2016, Ammon has served as vice chair, clinical and academic administration, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, serving the academic and research mission for the department within IU School of Medicine.
In her new role, Ammon will work to facilitate organizational improvement and meaningful team member engagement to remove obstacles to patient care delivery. She will report to her predecessor, Brian Kremer, who was named IU Health Physicians chief operating officer in January.
“We are thrilled to add Kim to the IU Health Physicians leadership team. Her expertise, humility and servant leadership will be a powerful catalyst for positive change across all of our clinical departments," says Kremer.
Ammon has been with IU Health Physicians for nearly a decade, overseeing operations for seven sites for the orthopaedic service line and more than 100 team members. She also brings more than two decades of clinical and managerial experience serving in various roles with healthcare organizations in Indiana and surrounding states.
Ammon received her combined bachelor’s and master’s degree in physical therapy from University of Evansville, and a second master’s degree in health administration from IUPUI.
In her new role, Ammon will work to facilitate organizational improvement and meaningful team member engagement to remove obstacles to patient care delivery. She will report to her predecessor, Brian Kremer, who was named IU Health Physicians chief operating officer in January.
“We are thrilled to add Kim to the IU Health Physicians leadership team. Her expertise, humility and servant leadership will be a powerful catalyst for positive change across all of our clinical departments," says Kremer.
Ammon has been with IU Health Physicians for nearly a decade, overseeing operations for seven sites for the orthopaedic service line and more than 100 team members. She also brings more than two decades of clinical and managerial experience serving in various roles with healthcare organizations in Indiana and surrounding states.
Ammon received her combined bachelor’s and master’s degree in physical therapy from University of Evansville, and a second master’s degree in health administration from IUPUI.
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Have questions about this publication or suggestions for future stories? Email iuhpnews@iuhealth.org.