Clinical, Admin Staff From Cardiology Get Sneak Peek at Epic

The cardiology division at Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC) was among the first to experience Epic, the new electronic medical record system that will be launched at CUIMC,

NewYork-Presbyterian, and Weill Cornell Medicine next January. A version of Epic was shown to clinical and administrative staff in short demo sessions recently. 

During the sessions, users saw the workflow in Cupid, the Epic module that is used to schedule and document cardiology procedures. EpicTogether analysts answered their questions and helped them navigate the system. 

“This experience helped staff members begin to understand Epic, and it also helped Epic analysts get useful feedback to improve the system,” Shunichi “Nick” Homma, MD, MHCDS, chief medical officer of ColumbiaDoctors, told CUIMC Today. “This was an excellent way for our staff to be introduced to Epic and get to know those building the system.”

More than 50 people attended the sessions. Alex Frias, the EpicTogether project manager for the Department of Radiology and Division of Cardiology, said attendees paid keen attention during the one-on-one demos. “The feedback has been very positive,” he noted. 

Danielle Brunjes, clinical research manager in the Division of Cardiology, said it was “very helpful to be able to click on everything and see what my provider and physicians would be going through.” 

Blenae Abebe, director of operations for the Division of Cardiology, liked what she saw in her session. “It seems pretty user-friendly, so I’m looking forward to it.”

Similar demo sessions will be held for other departments.

Sign up for Epic Training

Providers and advanced practitioners may now register for Epic training. Formal training for Epic Super Users will begin in November; end-user training will follow in December and January. 

Anyone needing help with Epic training enrollment may call the Epic training hotline at 646-697-EPIC (3742) from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday. 

Tips for Effective Training Registration

Thanks to the hundreds of you who signed up for your Epic training schedule already this week. As a reminder, Columbia physicians, advanced practitioners, and dental providers can self-enroll for Epic training courses on the EpicTogether Saba system. House staff (residents and fellows) and NYP advanced practitioners (NPs, PAs, CRNAs) will be registered for training by their program directors or manager and will not self-enroll.

Please keep a couple of things in mind before you register:

• Check in with your practice managers before registering to assure you align your choice with your availability to protect clinical time.
• Be sure to review the entire list of class sessions before making a selection as early sessions are filling up and many of the later sessions have availability. Choosing a date closer to go-live may go a long way in having the information top of mind as you click through the new system on go-live.
• College of Dental Medicine users need CWIDs before registering. If you have not received yours by now, the hotline can help register you.

A note to providers who have signed up to be Super Users: You should sign up now for your specialty-specific end-user training and select one of the earliest classes available in December. Additional Super User e-learnings will be added to your Saba profile later this summer and will be accessible to you beginning Oct. 7, when all Epic e-learning courses become available in Saba. All nonprovider Super Users and end users begin registration on June 3. 

Thanks for your patience as we tackle self-enrollment this month.