What is your role in the Department of Internal Medicine?
I am the manager of the electronic health record (EHR) utilization team, which is part of the clinical affairs team in the Department of Internal Medicine. Under the direction of Dr. Lynn Tanoue and Jennifer Lacerda, our team was created to help our department’s clinically active physicians and advanced practice providers to become more efficient in Epic, our EHR system. Our team’s mission is to simplify and improve the clinician’s experience within Epic by providing personalized utilization training and one-on-one assistance.
Have you been involved in any projects you are particularly proud of?
As our department’s number of clinicians has grown, so has the need for a more personalized approach to EHR utilization support. As a result, we developed the Epic STAR (Solutions That Achieve Results) training program. Epic STAR is a series of topic-focused training sessions that launched in the fall of 2021. This series highlighted our best Epic shortcuts, customizations, and efficiency tools, which clinicians were able to set up live with us during training. This interactive aspect allowed clinicians to walk away with tools readily available for them going forward!
As part of the training series, clinicians completed pre- and post-training self-assessments in which they indicated their comfort level with the topics covered during the series. The results showed a drastic improvement with comfort level of Epic tools post-training. Based on the positive feedback of this program, we presented the results at the Yale New Haven Health/Yale Medicine/YSM 2022 Safety, Quality, and Experience Conference.
Founded on the success of this training program, we will now be offering this training to each of our specialties to ensure that all our clinicians can set up and utilize our best practice efficiency tools for Epic success!
What are you looking forward to most?
We are reconstructing our existing training for new providers, in a session called “Becoming an Epic STAR! A Beginner’s Guide to Internal Medicine Best Practices and Customizations,” to mirror what we offered in our Epic STAR program. Previously, new department clinicians attended our training prior to having Epic access. Now, providers will obtain their Epic access before our training so that they can follow along and set up tools within the training session. This ensures that they have the tools they need to start their clinical work and have a better experience with Epic from the get-go. We have also developed a separate in-basket training session, which has already received positive feedback since it launched to our newer faculty in January 2023.
In addition to live Zoom training sessions, our team has created a library of resources, such as PDF workflows and instructional videos, available on the Department of Internal Medicine intranet, so our clinicians can learn Epic tips at their leisure.
We are constantly working on expanding the educational materials available to ensure that there is something for everyone. Whether through written instruction or video, it's possible to learn a new Epic tool in three minutes or less!
What do you love about working at Yale?
I am thankful for those who have helped guide my career here at Yale, such as my manager, Jennifer, who has been an incredible mentor. Dr. Tanoue has been inspiring and is dedicated to the success of the team’s mission. I am grateful to all the amazing individuals that I have had the pleasure of interacting with over the years, especially the clinical affairs team. The work that we do is important, and each of us play a role in the team's success.
While my team members have different responsibilities and areas of expertise, when we collaborate on an initiative or project, we make magic happen! Jenn, Krishna, Shannon, Jessica, Arianna, Torrie, and Saridia are a huge part of what makes my work so enjoyable. The fact that some of us have been working together for over six years speaks volumes about the mutual respect, support, and friendship we have developed.
What is the most rewarding part of your career?
Providing EHR support to our department’s more than 600 clinicians is very rewarding. They work incredibly hard and are dedicated to outstanding patient care. It is always humbling to receive appreciative feedback from our clinicians when they learn a new shortcut from us that saved them a few clicks and minutes in Epic throughout their day. It shows that the work we do matters, and that is worth every effort!
What is your favorite pastime?
With a toddler and an infant, there are no spare hours during the week for a pastime, but I would not change it for the world! I did recently join Orange Theory and enjoy that hour every Saturday morning—it gives me an energy boost for the rest of the weekend!