How Change Management Transformed a Multi-site GI Practice

Session
Change Management

Author
Kathleen (Katie) Scheele
Business Process Engineer
Systems & Procedures
Mayo Clinic

Description
Replacing manual processes and disparate systems with a multi-site Gastroenterology electronic medical record system in a large multi-specialty practice had many challenges. This presentation describes the tools and change management techniques used to implement the system and enhance the GI practice.

Abstract
The GI practice in our hospital and multi-specialty clinic used different manual processes and systems to manage the patient experience for GI procedures. The standalone system used by physicians to produce patient reports no longer supported the practice. The organization made the decision to implement an application developed by another site and change it to support multiple sites. The replacement system provided functions for patient scheduling; pre-operative, intra-operative and post-operative patient documentation; and a nursing and physician report.

There were many challenges with the project. Since the system was originally designed to support the GI practice at a different site there was resistance to changes needed to support our sites practice. The hospital and clinic used different processes that needed to be standardized. During the intra-operative procedure the system required more real time communication between allied health staff and physicians. The project team was located in three different states.

This presentation describes the tools and methods used to manage these challenges to implement the system and the changes to the GI practice. The outcome is a multi-site system that provides more efficiency, standardization, timely patient reports for GI procedures and better information to continue practice improvements.