Clara Guixa, vice president of applications and deputy CIO of Boston Children's Hospital, said the move to a fully Epic EHR system will give the health system the opportunity to transform digitally, increase interoperability and drive greater efficiencies.
Boston Children's had been using a combination of Cerner and Epic but recently signed a contract with Epic to move to a single EHR. Ms. Guixa told Becker's it was the "right time" for the health system to make the change.
"The interoperability that [the Epic EHR] was going to be able to provide was a key factor in us choosing the vendor, as well as Epic's willingness and ability to partner and innovate with us," she said.
Currently, Boston Children's is in the midst of the implementation process with 80% of its project team dedicated to working on the build, while the other 20% is coming from third parties and contractors, according to Ms. Guixa.
When it comes to plans for addressing potential disruptions in patient care during the transition, Ms. Guixa said Boston Children's has several initiatives in place.
"We have a robust readiness team that is helping on a month-to-month basis," she said. "We also have patient and family advisory members embedded into our team so we get feedback from our patients and families during this transition."
Boston Children's looks to complete the implementation of the EHR by June 2024, and Ms. Guixa said post go-live, she is most excited for the new opportunities of interoperability Epic will be able to provide.
"What I look forward to post go-live is seeing how our end users are going to leverage this tool to have a broader impact on our pediatric exchange and interoperability," she said. "As an Epic customer, that's going to help us."