Dawn Day, the passionate Director of The Health Collaborative’s (THC) Regional Epic Services, works with Epic Special Interest Groups – we call them SIGs – across the OH-KY-IN region.
Epic is the Electronic Health Record or EHR system that is used widely throughout our region. Dawn ensures that Epic SIGs are running efficiently and effectively, working with our member hospitals to maximize patient outcomes and improve workflows within Epic.
Epic Special Interest Groups (SIGs) are composed of:
- Career healthcare workers, both clinical & non-clinical.
- Certified Epic Analysts, Educators, Coordinators, Managers, Directors, Chief Information Officers, Chief Medical Information Officers, Information Technology Professionals-cross trained in Epic, and more.
- Patient-focused individuals who care about improving the health of the communities they serve.
The Epic SIG allows individuals from various health systems to sit at one table and work through issues that could slow down, hinder, or adversely affect a patient’s overall experience. THC currently offers ten Epic SIG’s and the groups focus is guided by the Epic Advisory Group. Each SIG is named after the Epic Module its members represent, i.e. Ambulatory & Inpatient Leaders; Management for hospital employed physician groups & Inpatient Departments; Beacon (Oncology); Education; Willow (Pharmacy); Security; Rev Cycle (Professional & Hospital Billing); Medical Imaging (Radiology); and MyChart (Epic’s patient-facing app).
The Epic SIG members know that at any moment, a person could be admitted as a patient at any one of the participating health systems. They trust that they will be seen by the best caregivers, they trust that they will receive the best care, and they trust that they will be treated with dignity and respect.
“The role of the special interest groups conducted and coordinated by The Health Collaborative are invaluable to our respective organizations’ ability to provide a consistent experience to our clinicians in the Epic medical record system. We have a venue to compare ideas, innovations, and methodologies with each other to help make each of our systems as efficient as possible to our end users. It also is a great opportunity to create long-lasting professional contacts and friendships.”
– Ryan Erb MHA, IT Manager, Clinical Solutions
The Christ Hospital Health Network
Epic Ambulatory & Inpatient Leaders/Security SIGs
“One of the best things I can say about this SIG is the ability and willingness to talk through issues we’ve had at our organization and to see how others have conquered the same issue at their institution.”
– Celine Ehrnschwender
Senior Analyst, Security Coordinator
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
Epic Security SIG
“I think the Security SIG is an excellent and crucial group. ‘Excellent’ as it’s always good to see what other organizations are improving and struggling with; and ‘Crucial’ as we share patient populations and our instances of Epic integrate. Even though we are competing, these types of groups help us deliver a great product to our end users which in return, allows them to better care for the patient.”
– Mike Witten, Senior Application Coordinator
Bon Secours Mercy Health – Cincinnati
Epic Security SIG
What makes these groups special is that many of the people who provide care for patients, sit alongside those who would normally be viewed as their competitors. Together they strategize and brainstorm best practices and ways to improve workflows that will give the patient the best possible outcome – regardless of which health system they choose.
