WellStar Connect Phase Two Go Live Dec. 1

On Dec. 1, WellStar Connect “went live” at WellStar Kennestone Hospital and 40+ WellStar Medical Group practices including Urgent Care Centers. As with any major change in systems, anticipation was high, but with the weeks of training, the months of planning and the support staff on hand, the launch of Epic went very smoothly.

Successes have been pouring in from physicians and team members who have found Epic as a welcomed change:

WellStar Cardiovascular Medicine Acworth reports, “On Dec. 3, Dr. Nydia Bladuell's first day in the office with EPIC and the staff's second day on the new system, we had an elderly patient and her two daughters show up at 4:15 p.m. stating they had an appointment. We could not see anywhere in our system where the patient had been scheduled. After such a long day, I anticipated at least some slight resistance from my team about staying late. They said yes, they were tired, but this is ‘what we do.’ We pulled together obtaining records from the referring practice (in Cartersville) and the clinical team worked to get her chart ready. Dr. Bladuell saw the patient, who was in heart failure and needed labs and treatment to begin quickly. We could not have done it without everyone's engagement and our EPIC support.”

WellStar Cartersville Surgical reports,“Dr. Grant Taylor was scheduled at the GI LAB Dec. 3 and he felt the process worked well for him.  He and our staff in Cartersville were all able to access their view only processes this morning for his notes! The referring physician’s office confirmed receipt of their copy into their EMR also! Success in Cartersville!! Thanks to everyone’s hard work!!!”

“As a veteran of the first ED EHR launch and realizing we have a ways to go, I’m impressed, in comparison, with its functionality, information sharing and no click speeds of 3+ seconds!”  – Mike Ray, M.D.

From Kennestone Cath Lab: “Epic team told Dr. Art Reitman they have never seen such a smooth cath lab transition before.”  

To share your WellStar Connect successes, email KimberlyJ.Johnson@wellstar.org.