artners eCare is an innovative new electronic health information systemthat is being developed and implemented by Partners HealthCare. Thesystem will go live at North Shore Medical Center in October 2015 and isexpected to be fully implemented across the entire Partners network by2017. It is the largest and most complex project that Partners has ever

undertaken and will affect virtually every patient and staff member at NSMC whenfully launched.To provide a broad overview of the Partners eCare project and what lies ahead at

NSMC in the months to come, NSMC Now sat down with some of the projectleaders for their insight. Participating were: Pati George, Chief Information Officer;Mitchell Rein, M.D., Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President, MedicalAffairs; Bea Thibedeau, R.N., Senior Vice President of Patient Care Services and ChiefNursing Officer; and Roxanne Worob, NSMC Partners eCare Program Lead.

Symposium Raises Bar on Nursing Education and Training

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nsmcNow!THE NEWS OF NORTH SHORE MEDICAL CENTER

APRIL–MAY 2014

Clinical Nurse Educators Bridget Hurlburt-Webster, R.N., and Katy Collier, R.N. (L-R), organizersof the spring nursing symposium.

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PARTNERS eCARE ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSIONNSMC SITE LEADERS DISCUSS IMPLEMENTATION OFINNOVATIVE ELECTRONIC HEALTH INFORMATION SYSTEM

When Katy Collier, R.N., and BridgetHurlburt-Webster, R.N., attended theNational Teaching Institute (NTI) andCritical Care Exposition in Boston last year,they both walked away feeling energized andinspired by the sheer breadth and depth ofthe educational opportunities presented. Soinspired, in fact, that they wanted to create a similar professional nursing conference for their colleagues back at North ShoreMedical Center. “The NTI conference featured a huge

array of lectures, booths, poster presentationsand hands-on activities,” says Collier, aClinical Nurse Educator in the SalemHospital ICU. “It was really inspiring to haveaccess to all this amazing training andeducation in a single location and theautonomy to pick and choose what was themost relevant to my own nursing practice.”

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Roundtable Discussioncontinued from page 1

Symposium Raises Barcontinued from page 1

What is the goal of Partners eCare?

George— The goal of Partners eCare is to enable clinical and administrativeinformation to flow seamlessly throughoutthe entire Partners network, enhancing theability of all Partners’ hospitals to deliverhigh-quality, patient-centered care that issafer, more efficient, better coordinated andmore affordable. This system will alsoenhance our Culture of Excellence efforts,supporting our ongoing goals to eliminateserious safety events and provide a perfectpatient experience.

Where are we in the rollout process?

Dr. Rein— Over the past year, anenormous amount of work has already beencompleted on the Partners eCare system,drawing on the expertise of clinical andadministrative staff from across the entirePartners network—including hundreds fromNorth Shore Medical Center, North ShorePhysicians Group, Spaulding North Shore

and North Shore Health System. On theNorth Shore, we are really in the early stagesof implementation, and in the coming weeksand months, many more staff will becomeinvolved as local efforts begin to ramp up.

How specifically arephysicians and other staffbeing engaged in theimplementation process?

Worob— We have organized all the workaround 30 project teams that are activelyinvolved in the Partners eCare rollout atNSMC within specific clinical andadministrative areas. These teams, whichcover everything from cardiology, radiologyand mental health services to compliance,coding and finance, are comprised ofdepartmental subject-matter experts and eachhas a designated business owner andexecutive sponsor to keep the project movingforward. Within each of the groups, thebusiness owner works together with teammembers, project managers and projectsponsors to ensure that their department isproactively prepared for a successful PartnerseCare implementation.

What is Epic?

Thibedeau— Epic is the primarytechnology vendor for the Partners eCaresystem. Partners selected Epic because of itsreputation as a leader in health informationtechnology and its success working withsome of the nation’s most respected academic medical centers and health systems.Other hospitals that work with the Epicsystem include Stanford, Duke, JohnsHopkins, Dartmouth-Hitchcock and NewYork University.

Will Epic software replaceour existing IT systems?

George— As we work to achieve the onepatient, one record solution, many of thesystems we use today to care for patients willbe replaced by Epic. Initially, the focus willbe on integrating core applications such as

order entry, medication administration andclinical documentation. The rest of theplatform will evolve over time. For instance,some departmental systems that remainsiloed in the early stages of the project willeventually be integrated, in keeping with theoverall goal of having a single patient record.

Can you discuss the twomain components of PartnerseCare, the revenue cycle andclinical applications?

Worob— The Partners eCare systemencompasses both clinical and revenue cyclefunctions. On the revenue side are systemsthat support administrative tasks rangingfrom registration and scheduling to codingand billing. The clinical systems includeorder entry, medication management andclinical documentation in both the inpatient

With contagious enthusiasm, Collier and Hurlburt-Webster—bothnewly hired clinical nurse educators on the Salem Campus—rallied thesupport of NSMC’s nursing leadership team and set about pursuing theirvision. Partnering with Lyn Sweezey, R.N., Clinical Nurse Educator atUnion Hospital; Deb Pelletier, R.N., Director of Nursing Practice; theDepartment of Clinical and Professional Development; and nurse educatorsfrom across the organization, they began soliciting ideas and methodicallybuilding a program that would appeal to a broad cross section of caregivers. The end result, after months of planning and preparation, is the

Nursing Excellence through Education and Development Symposium(NEEDS). Debuting this past March,NEEDS is a series of 12 daylongevents scheduled over the spring onboth the Salem and Union campuses.Each event includes morning andafternoon sessions involving morethan 40 educators, clinical nursespecialists and staff nurses coveringsuch topics as stroke care, skin/woundcare, palliative care, infection controland IV therapy. Afternoon sessionsfeature more than 25 informationbooths focusing on both individualand required unit-specific educationneeds. By the end of May, more than500 nurses will have attended one ofthe NEEDS events.

“We have had nursing skills fairs and conferences on both campusesover the years with varying degrees of success, but this event has reallyengaged the nursing staff in a new way and generated a lot of excitement,”explains Pelletier. “Because it was designed to meet the unique learningneeds of nurses from different specialty areas and at different levels ofexperience, NEEDS has a much broader appeal than some of our previous efforts.”For Aline Smith, R.N., a longtime nurse in the Salem Hospital ICU,

NEEDS was a pleasant surprise. “I was a bit skeptical going in, but thelectures kept my interest and the individual booths offered an excellentopportunity to review and refresh my skills,” says Smith. Events likeNEEDS, she adds, help her maintain competency and comfort with clinicalprocedures and equipment that she may not use on a regular basis.“Seeing our vision become a reality and hearing all the positive feedback

has been incredibly gratifying,” says Hurlburt-Webster, a Clinical NurseEducator for Davenport 5 and the CSU. “But, more important, we arehearing that nurses are already applying some of the skills they learned toimprove how they care for patients. That was our ultimate goal.”

and ambulatory setting, as well as dedicatedapplications for clinical departments andspecialties such as radiology, surgery,obstetrics and emergency medicine. Otherclinical features include: a single electronicrecord for both outpatient and inpatient care;enhanced decision support; a standardapproach to evidence-based care; and anexpanded patient portal designed to empowerpatient and family involvement, improvecommunication and facilitate coordination of care.

Photo above: Sarah Beth Thomas, R.N., Clinical NurseEducator on Davenport 8, leading a training session.

How will Partners eCarebenefit physicians and nurses?

Dr. Rein— The applications at the core ofPartners eCare connect physicians, nurses and each member of the care team to a singlerecord embedded with clinical knowledge.This helps make sure that clinical decisionsare based on the most up-to-date informationand promotes care that is safe and well-coordinated. For every user, active clinical-decision support and role-based workflowsupport make it easier to do the right thingfor our patients. At the same time, the systemcan conform in important ways to thepreferences of individual organizations,departments and even single users.

What is the benefit ofPartners eCare to patients?

Thibedeau— Patients will benefit fromPartners’ ability to operate as an integratedsystem. That means a more seamless care andservice experience with all data readilyavailable, higher-quality and safer care withconsistent best-practice workflows acrossPartners and more opportunities to engagepatients in advanced clinical trials. The systemwill also give patients more ways to managetheir own health with online tools and abetter connection to our practices that areadvancing the patient-centered medical home.

Where is NSMC in terms of the broader system-wide rollout?

George— Newton-Wellesley Hospitalrolled out the revenue cycle applicationssuccessfully this past February. MassachusettsGeneral Hospital will follow with those sameadministrative functions in July. In 2015,Brigham and Women’s Hospital, followedclosely by NSMC, will be the first Partnershospitals to roll out both the clinical andrevenue components simultaneously.

The Perfect Patient Experience

The Perfect Patient Experience is a regular columnfeaturing letters submitted to NSMC by patients andfamilies that honor and celebrate staff who combineclinical expertise and compassion to deliver a perfectpatient experience. Letters may be edited to fit space.

Dear NSMC,

I just wanted to express my sinceregratitude for the wonderful care mydaughter received during a recent surgeryand hospital stay at MassGeneral forChildren at NSMC. What was supposed tobe a routine tonsillectomy became a bitmore complicated when my daughter had a“bleed” and needed to be brought back tothe OR. Her nurse, Eileen, on the inpatientunit was amazing! Along with her co-workers—sorry I didn’t get all of theirnames—Eileen responded quickly to mydaughter’s situation, contacting the surgeon,Dr. Bradley Turner, immediately to get herback to the operating room. The nurses inthe recovery area were also kind and helpful,checking on me in the waiting room as I wasclearly upset. I couldn’t have asked for abetter experience under the circumstances!You have a very caring nursing staff!As for Dr. Turner, the care and concern

he showed my daughter was also amazing.This was the third procedure he hadperformed on her and I can only express thehighest praise and gratitude for his expertise!Our children are our worlds and it is alwaysdifficult to put them in the hands ofsomeone we may not know well, especiallyin a hospital setting. Even when I was worried about her, I knew she wouldbe treated as if she were Dr. Turner’s ownchild. He explained every step of the processand I always felt confident that she was ingood hands.Thank you to all of the nurses and

physicians at MassGeneral for Children atNSMC for making it a wonderful experience.

Lynne D.

NSMC Partners eCare Program Leadership for NSMC

Site ExecutivePati George, NSMC Chief Information Officer

Clinical System Executive SponsorMitchell Rein, M.D., Senior Vice President for Medical Affairs and Chief Medical Officer

Revenue Cycle Executive SponsorSally Mason Boemer, NSMC Chief Financial Officer

Partners eCare Program Directors for the North Shore

Keith Backman, Spaulding North ShoreMark Blass, North Shore Health SystemLeonor Duncan, North Shore Physicians GroupRoxanne Worob, North Shore Medical Center(NSMC secondary contacts: Kerry MacKenzie and Ken Steenbruggen)

Clinician Champions

Ned Kaufman, M.D.—LeadMark BlassLisa Herlihy, R.N.Sonal Mankodi, M.D.Ralph McHattonJoe Miaskiewicz, M.D.Mike Todd, P.A.Christine Valdes, M.D.Lauren Woodward, R.N.

Partners eCare Program Directors for the NorthShore (L-R) Roxanne Worob, North Shore MedicalCenter; Mark Blass, North Shore Health System;Leonor Duncan, North Shore Physicians Group;and Keith Backman, Spaulding North Shore.

Partners eCare @ NSMC

Workstream Local Organization Leads

Mark BlassLaura FlemingPati GeorgeSharon LucieSally Mason BoemerJeff MillsNatalie NguyenMitch Rein, M.D.Roxanne RuppelBea Thibedeau, R.N.

Staying informed: For complete information on PartnerseCare, including application demos by role and specialty, and to sign up for their e-newsletter, visitpartnersecare.dipr.partners.org.

Pati George, Chief Information Officer.

Bea Thibedeau, R.N., Senior Vice President of Patient Care Services and Chief Nursing Officer, and Mitchell Rein, M.D., Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President, Medical Affairs.

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Sunday, June 22, 2014Join us on Sunday, June 22, 2014 for the 24th annual

North Shore Cancer WALK! Starting at SalemWillows Park, the 6.2 mile route winds throughhistoric downtown Salem. All proceeds from

this year’s event will support oncologyservices at North Shore Medical Centerand the Mass General/North Shore

Cancer Center in Danvers.

NorthShoreCancerWalk.org

Cancer survivor Jerry Tucker and oncologist KarenKrag, M.D., the 2014 Cancer WALK co-chairs.

nsmcNow!THE NEWS OF NORTH SHORE MEDICAL CENTER

Do you have news or ideas to share? Let us know. Contact editor Bill Ewing at 978-354-2161 or wewing@partners.org. NSMC Now! is produced by NSMC’s Department of Marketing and Communications.

Laurie Young, Manager, Financial CounselingSay you need an MRI and want to know how much it will cost at anygiven hospital. You may need this information because your healthinsurance will only cover a portion of the expense and you want tounderstand what your contribution will be. Or, perhaps you have noinsurance at all and want to do some comparison shopping atdifferent hospitals before booking an appointment. Until recently,this type of financial information was not readily available, leavingsome patients feeling frustrated.This all changed on January 1, 2014 when new healthcare cost

transparency regulations went into effect in Massachusetts. Now,physicians and hospitals are required by law to provide cost information for all procedures andservices to patients who request it within a 48-hourperiod. For Laurie Young, Manager of NSMC’sFinancial Counseling Department, and her staff of 10 counselors, getting ready for this new legislationmeant a considerable amount of planning and preparation.“Partners led the charge in terms of establishing a

standard approach that ensured all entities met therequirements of the new law,” says Young. “But we had to adapt these new procedures to our existing office structure and processes. It was a lot of work and we are still refining things as we move forward.” Using worksheets and formulas created by Partners, Young and her staff can plug in the medical

code for almost any service or procedure along with the patient’s insurance information and generatea cost estimate. They can also work directly with insurance providers to calculate costs.“We are fielding a wide variety of inquiries so far and patients seem very appreciative of having

access to this kind of cost information,” says Young. “Many of our calls have been about the cost ofspecific tests such as ultrasounds and MRIs. We have also had a number of calls from people with noinsurance who pay for their healthcare out of pocket.” For the latter group, Young and her staff canhelp patients apply to federal and state programs and insurance plans that may assist them withpaying their medical bills.

“We are fielding a widevariety of inquiries so farand patients seem veryappreciative of havingaccess to this kind of cost information.”[

nsmcPeopleAchievements

Chris Delisi, R.N., C.P.N., staff nurse in theMassGeneral for Children at NSMC inpatientunit, recently obtained the pediatric specialtycertification awarded by the PediatricNursing Certification Board.

Carlos Nunez, R.N., B.S.N., E.P.N.C., C.P.N.,clinical staff nurse in the EmergenceDepartment of MassGeneral for Children atNSMC, recently obtained his pediatricspecialty certification awarded by thePediatric Nursing Certification Board.

Elizabeth Roy, R.N., of the Birthplace,completed her B.S.N. at Endicott College thispast December.

Robin Talbot recently earned the honor ofbecoming an AHIMA Approved ICD-10-CM/PCS Trainer from The American HealthInformation Management Association.

Ivetta Zeidel recently earned a CertifiedCoding Specialist (CCS) certification fromThe American Health InformationManagement Association.

Michelle Cote, R.N., and Marie Qualtieri, R.N.,clinical staff nurses on Davenport 7, will bepresenting their poster, “PreventingReadmissions with Innovative DischargeInstructions,” at the 2014 National PatientSafety Congress on May 14-16 in Orlando, FL.

Everett T. Lyn, M.D.; John A. Michael, M.D.,F.R.C.P.C.; and Nicholas G. Ross, M.D., M.S.,were part of a team that had an articleentitled “A Top-Five List for EmergencyMedicine: A Pilot Project to Improve theValue of Emergency Care,” published in theFebruary 17 issue of JAMA Internal Medicine,a publication of the Journal of AmericanMedical Association.

Jonelle O’Connor, R.N., and Doug Peterson,M.D., were each honored at the 12th annualAmerican Red Cross of NortheastMassachusetts Heroes Breakfast this pastMarch. O’Connor was honored for being afirst responder at the Boston marathonbombing and Dr. Peterson was honored forhis work as a military surgeon who has donetwo tours in Afghanistan.

Follow Us!

Team NSMC Needs You!Would you like to serve on the Team NSMC Cancer WALK Committee? Meetings are held once amonth from March through June for 45 minutes. Staff from all locations are needed to promote theWALK and help build excitement for the event. Members will also assist with special projects and helpbrainstorm new ideas. If you would like to serve on this committee, please contact Susan Lausier atslausier@partners.org or 978-825-6232.

NSMC Employee Golf Tournament – June 16NSMC will be hosting its annual golf tournament for employees, medical staff and their guests onMonday, June 16, at the Ferncroft Country Club in Middleton. The cost to participate is $150 andincludes golf fees, cart, dinner and gift. Check-in will be open at 12:30 p.m. and the tournament willbegin at 1:30. For more information or to register, please contact Rachel Chase atrmchase@partners.org or 978-825-6236.