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As Jan. 31 nears, South Central and consortium partners — Covington County Hospital, Magee General Hospital, Simpson General Hospital and Smith County Emergency Hospital — have shifted into an all-hands-on-deck effort to complete the transition to the new electronic health record system: Epic.
“In early 2025, SCRMC launched a consortium-wide campaign titled ‘The Amazing Race to Epic,’ a year-long campaign designed to educate, motivate and empower our teams,” said Loretta McLaughlin, SCRMC Epic Director. “This effort has guided South Central and partner hospitals through a multi-phased journey to a new EHR, which will launch in less than 30 days. It’s incredibly exciting for our hospitals, our staff and our patients.”
Part 1: Build Phase
The first hurdle in the Amazing Race to Epic was assembling and preparing the people who would guide the transition. A team of nearly 60 individuals were hired to train with Epic’s corporate team in Wisconsin and then lead the implementation process across the consortium. McLaughlin and Executive Project Sponsor, Alania Cedillo, who serves as the Chief Operating Officer for South Central’s Partner Hospitals, were at the helm of the effort from day one.
The initial phase was the longest and most detailed portion of the project. During this stage, the Epic team and organizational leaders evaluated Epic’s capabilities, choosing how to best use its features to meet the specific needs of SCRMC and its consortium partners. It was during this time that decisions and workflows were designed to streamline the patient experience and improve outcomes.
“We identified a list of 10 guiding principles early in the project to serve as our north star,” said Cedillo. “Our first and foremost principle is that we will make patient-centric decisions. I am confident to say that we have embodied that thought every step of the race.”
Part 2: Training Phase
In November, South Central’s Epic Department, supported by experienced Epic corporate trainers, began training 500 physicians, providers and staff across the consortium. Depending on role, some staff have multiple classes to complete as part of training.
A series of “Go-Live Readiness Assessments” began to take place 90 days prior to Go-Live. These assessments offered a chance for operational leadership and Epic to gather in a room to review and discuss progression of the implementation. “The GLRA meetings have provided a collaborative opportunity for teams across the organization to ask questions to ensure development and implementation has been considered from every angle,” said McLaughlin.
Physicians and providers are receiving hands-on sessions with Epic corporate trainers, who are helping them tailor their Epic workspace. This ensures a streamlined approach in their ability to provide care.
Part 3: Launch Phase
On Jan. 17 and 18, front office and management personnel will participate in “Admin Conversion Weekend.” These individuals will spend the weekend devoted to completing the task of moving administrative data from the current EHRs to Epic.
This will include future appointments, surgical cases, referrals, financial assistance cases and authorizations. Some data will be electronically moved from one system to the other, while other data will need to be manually moved.
“This gives the outpatient staff an opportunity to work in the system before Go-Live,” said Gary Stoud, Director for SC Orthopedics, Sports Medicine, General Surgery, Rehab and the Wellness Center. “Manually converting registration and other data for two days straight will be a lot of workflow repetition, which ensures the early days are smoother for patients and staff alike.”
Goals of the weekend:
- Electronically convert/import all appointments
- Convert registration data
- Convert orders and referrals
- Convert case data
Admin Conversion Weekend is the start of Registration Go-Live. This means that after this process is completed, the organizations will be using both their legacy system, or current EHR, and Epic to manage patient information.
Part 4: Implementation Phase
As the consortium enters the final phase of the Amazing Race to Epic, the finish line is no longer a distant marker. It is directly ahead.
“The implementation phase represents not just the culmination of months of planning and collaboration, but the beginning of a new era in patient care,” said Cedillo. “With teams aligned, systems tested and workflows refined, our organizations are poised to cross the finish line with confidence.”
Every step taken throughout the build, training and launch phases has prepared the organization for this pivotal moment.
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I am super excited about this and I know it will make such a big difference in the patient care!