Columbia’s Readiness Agent Network Gauges Department Readiness

There’s something to be said when an individual steps up to do more. We see it throughout our organization in the care we give our patients, in our teamwork with one another. So it’s no surprise that a number of you have stepped up to lead Columbia through our Epic implementation. The Readiness Agent Network—a team of our colleagues—is taking on the extra work of guiding us through the cultural change we are facing as we integrate our electronic medical record system with NewYork-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medicine.

“From the very first moment we mentioned our Epic transformation, we talked about the cultural change we will go through to integrate our electronic medical record systems,” said Roe Long, chief operating officer of ColumbiaDoctors and EpicTogether lead. “The readiness agent network is steering us through that change and will prove to be a key factor in our success.”

Time for Assessments

We stood up the Readiness Agent Network so that each department has someone sharing with leadership the true impacts that each individual department is facing with this change. New workflows, new procedures, and new policies are all something each department is likely to tackle in this transition. The Readiness Agent Network members are currently working to assess this impact on specific clinical and operational workflows related to their respective departments. These assessments include collecting feedback from frontline clinical and operational staff. The readiness agents will then give this feedback to the Intentional Redesign Team.  

Once we know the impacts on each department, the Intentional Redesign Team will work with the Readiness Agent Network on plans to mitigate the impact of these changes. 

Know Your Agent

If you don’t know your department’s readiness agent, please ask around. We have 100 people on the Readiness Agent Network. Now is the time to be asking what changes are in your future. This will pave the way for more engaged training and a better experience with the new system if you familiarize yourself with it before training begins.

If you have questions about the Readiness Agent Network or anything regarding EpicTogether, email Jonathan Touson, senior director of Intentional Redesign, at jt3119@cumc.columbia.edu.