Trending in ITEpic Planned Downtime –
Sunday, May 2 Radiation Oncology Patient Satisfaction Surveys Updated New Mobile Tools for HM Nurse Practitioners Sign up for MASS: Real-Time Alerts on Applications You Use Most Requests for Alaris Pump Guardrails® Modifications
Launch Alerts- HMH Specimen Scanning Launches Tuesday, May 4
Epic UpdatesNew Secure Chat Notification for Important Messages Post-Discharge Charting Access Changing for Specific Groupers Physician Consult Orders Now Include Ordering Provider's Best Call-Back Number Wound LDA: Negative Pressure Therapy Wound Assessments Now Completed
For Everyone
Epic Planned Downtime
Sunday, May 2, 2 – 3:30 a.m. Epic will have a planned downtime on Sunday, May 2 from 2 to approximately 3:30 a.m. During the downtime, access the Epic Read-Only icon on your workstation desktop. Data in Epic Read-Only is current until the downtime begins. You can’t document or enter orders in Epic Read-Only. For details on what to do before, during and after the downtime, including special instructions for lab, radiology, cardiology and medical devices, see the Planned Downtime Instructions. To know when Epic access is restored, sign up for the Methodist Alert Subscription Service (MASS) or check the Epic status indicator on the homepage of the Houston Methodist intranet.
For Cancer Care Leadership
Radiation Oncology Patient Satisfaction Surveys UpdatedPatient Satisfaction surveys for radiation oncology appointments were updated and are only sent after final treatment is complete or following a gamma knife appointment. Due to this change, Cancer Centers will likely notice a decrease in survey responses.
For All HM Nurse Practitioners
New Mobile Tools for Nurse Practitioners New iPhones are being distributed to inpatient HM nurse practitioners who’ve opted to receive them. The new phones will help improve workflows and efficiency, unify clinical communications and will be automatically loaded with apps like Haiku, Outlook, Office 365 and more. All nurse practitioners are encouraged to utilize available mobile apps — whether you received a new iPhone or are using an existing HM device or personal phone. These mobile tools will help standardize workflows and make them more consistent. To learn more about mobile apps for nurse practitioners, visit the HM Nurse Practitioner iPhone Resources website.
For Everyone
Sign up for MASS: Real-Time Alerts on Applications You Use Most Sign up for Methodist Alerts Subscription Service (MASS) for the fastest, most convenient way to stay informed about downtimes for the applications you use most. By signing up, you’ll receive email alerts at your HM account anytime the systems you select go down — with updates, status and next steps. These tailored notifications keep you informed about the status of systems most important to you, like Epic, MARS and more, in real time. It’s easy to sign up. Just go to
MASS, create your account and choose the systems you want to hear about.
For Nurses and Pharmacists
Requests for Alaris Pump Guardrails® ModificationsPlease send any requests for modifications of Alaris pump Guardrails® for administration of intravenous medications to the IT Help Desk. Requests are reviewed by the Smartpump Steering Committee on a monthly basis with priority on urgency and safety. Requests may include: - New intravenous medications or concentrations not currently available in the library.
- Adjustment to Guardrails® parameters such as dose, duration or concentration limits that may prohibit administration
of a medication.
- Review of alerts for additions to increase safety, or modification or removal of nuisance alerts.
For HMH Nurses, PCAs, Mental Health Techs, RTs, ED Phlebotomists and Lab Staff
Specimen Scanning Launches on Tuesday, May 4 at HMHSpecimen Scanning launches at HMH on Tuesday, May 4 for nurses, PCAs, mental health techs, respiratory therapists, ED phlebotomists and lab staff. This tool reduces the risk of specimen labeling errors, improving patient safety. Increased accuracy helps reduce lab processing turnaround times, so providers can make patient care decisions sooner than previously possible.
Required training deadline: Friday, April 30 - Required online training has been assigned to impacted nurses, PCAs, mental health techs, respiratory therapists, ED phlebotomists and lab staff (Epic Lab Specimen Collection & Barcode Scanning for Clinical Staff, course #1582031).
- Please complete this LMS training by Friday, April 30.
Road shows
Remaining road shows featuring a live demonstration will take place on April 29 at Main Tower and Alkek/Jones/West Pavilion. For more information, visit it.houstonmethodist.org/specimenscanning.
For Haiku, Canto and Rover iOS Users
New Secure Chat Notification for Important Messages
Effective Sunday, May 2 Effective Sunday, May 2, when you send an Important message in Secure Chat using Haiku, Canto or Rover on iOS, if the message isn’t read after five minutes, you’ll receive a notification on your mobile device. If you haven’t already, remember to enable push notifications on your mobile device to see these notifications for unread Important messages. Note: Secure Chat notifications aren’t currently available on Rover Zebra TC52 Android devices.
For PAS and Clinical Staff
Post-Discharge Charting Access Changing for Specific Groupers
Effective Sunday, May 2To help during our initial Epic launch, an additional 10 days were added to the time allowed for post discharge charting. On Sunday, May 2, the time frame reverts to the standard three, four or seven days. Note: This only applies to individuals in the three, four or seven-day groupers and not to other physicians or clinicians who've already been assigned to a different group. “Groupers” determine the length of time you can access a patient’s chart post discharge from unit computers. - If you need to complete documentation in a chart that is now read-only, make an
appointment with your local HIM department to use the open-access computer. For more information, view this tip sheet.
- Regardless of the post discharge grouper that you're in, the MAR converts to read-only 10 days post discharge for medication administration. If you need to make an edit, but the MAR is read-only, and it's been less than 10 days post discharge, you can use an HIM computer to make the edits. After 10 days post discharge, however, you must use a nursing note to document and explain the revision.
- If you have a workflow that requires a longer
duration grouper, with your manager's approval, submit a Help Desk ticket stating your business need and justification. IT and HIM operations will review and respond accordingly.
For Providers Placing Physician Consult Orders
Physician Consult Orders Now Include Ordering Provider’s Best Call-Back Number
Effective Monday, May 3 Starting Monday, May 3, when placing a physician consult order in Epic, you’ll have a new Best call back number field, allowing you to include your preferred call-back number. This will help facilitate better communication between providers. Best call back number information will also display on the consultant's Haiku/Canto screen. For HMCCH, HMW and HMWB - If you answer No to
Will you contact the consultant under the Consultant not contacted section, you’re now required to add your preferred call-back number in the Best call back number field.
- If you answer Yes, you have the option to include your preferred call-back number. This is encouraged, but not required.
HMB, HMCL, HMH, HMSL and HMTW - You now have the option to enter your preferred call-back number in the Best call back number field. This is encouraged, but not required.
For All Nursing
Wound LDA: Negative Pressure Therapy Wound Assessments Now Completed
Effective Monday, May 3 To help standardize documentation and improve wound reporting, wound-specific assessment items (e.g., wound base appearance, length, width and depth) will be removed from the Negative Pressure Wound Therapy (NPWT) LDA. Link an NPWT to a wound by adding a Wound LDA if it’s not present. Then add an NPWT LDA to the wound documented on the LDA Avatar. For more information, view this tip sheet. Below is a picture of a wound linked to NPWT on the LDA Avatar. Prior documentation on removed rows from the NPWT LDA can be reviewed in the LDAs tab of Chart Review.
Friday, April 30, 6 p.m. – Saturday,
May 1, 9 a.m. During this time, SharePoint sites may be down. To prepare, print or save any necessary materials to your local drive before this downtime.
Systemwide Internet Maintenance
Thursday, April 29, midnight – 6 a.m.
Friday, April 30, midnight – 6 a.m. During this time, our vendor is conducting maintenance and you may experience intermittent internet slowness and access issues, lasting up to three minutes. If you experience issues, including missing computer icons or shared drives, please restart your computer. To ensure minimal impact, save your work often before and during this maintenance.
Cisco Desktop and Wireless Phones
Saturday, May 1, 7 a.m. – 2 p.m.
(HMH – Fondren) Saturday, May 8, 7 a.m. – 2 p.m.
(HMH – Scurlock)
During this time frame, you may notice a few seconds of disruption in your phone service. Phones will reboot automatically and won't drop calls in progress.
Saturday, May 1, 11 p.m. – Sunday, May 2, 6 a.m. LMS won't be available due to maintenance.
Sunday, May 2, 2 – 3:30 a.m. During the downtime, access the Epic Read-Only icon on your workstation desktop. Data in Epic Read-Only is current until the downtime begins. You can’t document or enter orders in Epic Read-Only. See story above for further details.
Tuesday, May 4, 10 p.m. – midnight Be prepared for intermittent or no access. Follow your department’s standard downtime procedures.
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