Expanding Horizons

Alton Memorial, Christian Hospitals Latest to Start New Clinical Documentation System

PHOTO BY RUSTY INGRAM Kim Williams, a McKesson superuser from BJC Lab IS, works with AMH lab staff members Patty Buchanan and Rachelle Kinder on Dec. 1, the day that the new clinical documentation system went live at AMH.

(Alton, IL - Decmeber 15, 2009) � Like a new pair of shoes, the Horizon clinical documentation system felt slightly different at first. Now that the fit is established and it�s properly broken in, it will take Alton Memorial Hospital and other BJC community hospitals exactly where they want to go.

McKesson Horizon Clinicals has been in place at Progress West Health Center, Barnes-Jewish St. Peters Hospital, Missouri Baptist Medical Center and Barnes West County. It went live at Christian Hospital on Oct. 18 and most recently at Alton Memorial Hospital on Dec. 1.

�Horizon Clinicals includes 13 modules plus Horizon Meds Manager,� says Debbie Turpin, chief nurse executive at Alton Memorial Hospital. �Horizon Clinicals is the program that all nurses and ancillary departments are using for order entry, documentation and medication administration.�

In fact, the system is being used by almost every department in the hospital, at least to some extent.

�The convenience is that you document something one time and you�re done,� says Gay Cunningham, chief nurse executive at Christian Hospital. �And one of the most important things is that it�s so much safer for medication administration. We�re bar coding and scanning to eliminate medication errors.�

For both hospitals, it was an entirely new world within just minutes of shutting down the former system (Unity at AMH and MIS2000 at CH) and going live with McKesson�s Horizon system.

�We had the advantage in that we were already computer documenting in all of our nursing departments,� Turpin said. �But it was new for the ancillary departments. Most difficulties were in knowing where to go to find things since the screen�s structure was different than what we were accustomed to having. Overall, though, the go-live went much better than expected.�

At both hospitals, �super-users� had several weeks of intensive instruction before the training was expanded to all departments. The super-users were then used to train everyone.

�We have close to 75 super-users, and we required all directors and managers to become super-users,� Cunningham said. �Then we had eight weeks of training, with a week between the end of training and going live. The super-users were re-deployed to the floors. We had a computer set up on each floor so staff could complete a �day in the life� of a patient where they could do an admission assessment or discharge.�

Turpin said that the super-users at AMH did an excellent job of training employees.

�We also had super-users from all BJC community hospitals here to assist,� she said. �We are very thankful for their assistance in making this a success. I would say the younger generation of employees seemed to catch on to the new system faster, followed very shortly by the rest.�

�I told our employees that their whole world would change, and it did,� Cunningham said. �There are occasional glitches with anything like that, but it went very well and the staff has been great. And we couldn�t have done it without the super-users. They were all tremendous.�

With six BJC community hospitals now using the McKesson documentation system, three more � Boone Hospital Center, Parkland Health Center and Missouri Baptist Sullivan Hospital � will implement the system later in 2010. It�s all part of Clinical Workflow Initiative (CWI) plans to put new standardized process flows in place at BJC community hospitals by the end of next year.

�Having the same technology platform will set the foundation for the new CWI workflows designed by our hospital employees,� said Shelly DeVore, CWI executive director. �The new designs will be included in the next upgrade of Horizon Clinicals -- what we refer to as CWI Optimization. The six hospitals now using the system will see the new changes introduced next spring. The three hospitals converting to Horizon Clinicals will get the fully optimized package as they launch during the spring and summer months.�

DeVore looks forward to the time the hospitals all operate from the same technology platform.

�Having shared policies, processes and technology will provide a foundation for delivery of best practice care at all of our community hospitals,� she said.