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Technology Tuesday – March 24, 2020

Week 9:  Templating to succeed at go-live and beyond

On the first day of Wave Travis go-live there was a problem.  A big problem.   For some members of the clinic staff, instead of a spaced-out light schedule, every patient was double-booked.  Some clinicians were actually scheduled to see MORE patients then they would have before go-live. Others were unable to document on their own scheduled appointments.  How in the world could this have happened?   How can you keep this from happening at your MTF?

 Why this happens.

Fundamentally, these issues are not caused by MHS GENESIS at all.  They are caused by the way in which MHS GENESIS and CHCS communicate appointments.  In many ways it probably is more a function of a failure of CHCS to communicate to MHS GENESIS than it is with MHS GENESIS itself. The first 90 days of MHS GENESIS appointments have to be available in CHCS.  And they appointments have to match exactly.  Otherwise you could be booked in both CHCS and MHS GENESIS.  Additionally, any changes win CHCS will not be reflected in MHS GENESIS so again, there are issues that result in double booking opportunities and CHCS appointments that create errors in documentation for MHS GENESIS.

How to we keep this from happening?

First, listen to the DHA experts.  Most likely this will be Heather Davis.  Not only is she extremely knowledgeable, but she is also reasonable and very sensitive to clinical needs.  Seriously.  Listen to her.  Next, DHA has outlined extremely restrictive booking templates and protocols for the first 90 days.  Keep in mind this is just for the first 90 days, it can become more flexible after this.  Currently there are only 4 core templates that are built for the transition.  It is likely to expand some, but not a ton.  DHA understands that missions are unique and is willing to be somewhat flexible, but during the 90 days we must also be flexible.  Otherwise you will have very unhappy clinical staff on day 1 of go-live.  Trust me.

Ok, that makes sense – anything else you need to know?

Communicate this to your staff.  First, communicate with the clinical staff.  They will need to understand the “why” to keep from feeling a loss of autonomy. They will get back that autonomy after the transition, but initially this is done to keep them from having issues during the transition.  Explain it as a CHCS problem.   Next, communicate this to your administrative staff.  At least 3 weeks prior to go-live they need to understand to not make changes to CHCS.  No flips, no joins, no changing types of appointments that will be communicated to MHS GENESIS.  Every one of those changes will create a go-live issue.  Communicate with leadership about the standard templates. Finally, communicate with DHA again if you have a unique issue you are trying to solve.  They really do want to help you succeed.

Next Week: Note types, templates and why they matter

GENESIS TIPS:  Overwhelmingly good patient care relies on good communication with the entire clinical team.  The foundation of this communication in MHS GENESIS is with the problem list.  Although available in AHLTA, it didn’t communicate with inpatient diagnoses and was difficult to manage.  In GENESIS it is the foundation of good communication and is always face-up to clinical staff. Taking time to curate the problem list provides the tools necessary to optimize care for every patient in the easiest possible way.