Legacy Support
As health systems elect to implement a new EHR or upgrade their current platform, iMethods can provide expert support during the transition. For three such health systems, iMethods supplied consultants to help our clients move from GE Centricity to a new EHR:
Client 1: a four hospital system based in FL – upgraded GE Centricity from version 9.5 to version 9.8, necessitating support for the older version while the new version was being deployed. iMethods provided three consultants to assist with this upgrade.
Client 2: a seven hospital system headquartered in MS – migrated its ambulatory IT applications from GE Centricity Practice Solution (CPS) version 12.0 to Epic Ambulatory. iMethods provided four resources to support the system during the 14-month transition from Centricity to Epic.
Client 3: home to NH – moved its ambulatory practices from GE Centricity Practice Solution (CPS) version 12.0 to Allscripts Sunrise Ambulatory version 17.3. At CMC, iMethods placed two consultants for break-fix support, system maintenance and provider training as needed.
Scope of work:
At each of these consulting engagements, iMethods provided at-the-elbow support for clinical and administrative staff working in GE Centricity as the organization transitioned to a new or upgraded EHR.
Some of the provided tasks included:
- Centricity Security – New User account creation, system database maintenance, troubleshooting, and LinkLogic Interface configurations
- Crystal report development as needed
- Interface configurations and error resolutions
- VFE (Visual File Editor) and CCC (Centricity Clinical Content) form build, configurations and modifications
- Tier II Service Desk support for Centricity tickets
- Database backups, copies, knowledgebase updates, and edits for various resolution to bugs and glitches
- Physician Training & Implementation support when on-boarding new Physician Practices
Client Insights:
Client 2 had worked on GE systems for more than 20 years when the organization determined that GE Centricity was no longer the right fit for the system’s ambulatory practices. Epic was selected as the replacement platform for its outpatient clinics. With 90 locations and 450 providers serving patients in 24 counties across northern Mississippi and northwestern Alabama, the initiative was sufficiently large to warrant outside support.
When the Epic build began in March of 2018, iMethods deployed four consultants (two clinical, two clerical) to train and support providers and other staff who continued to use GE Centricity for the nearly 14 months it took to complete the transition to Epic. New providers and administrative team members joined the health system during the Epic implementation, so training them on Centricity was critical to ensuring clinical and clerical operations continued uninterrupted.
iMethods also managed calls into the Centricity Help Line, worked down issues captured in the Centricity error log and trained physicians on Dragon and Telehealth components of the Centricity platform. To maintain compliance with Meaningful Use and other regulatory requirements, the iMethods team developed forms in Centricity using Visual Form Editor.
If not working in Centricity, the adaptable iMethods team would pitch in to help the Epic implementation, guiding teams on transitioning workflows from one system to the other.
According to the Manager, Ambulatory IT Applications, “iMethods was an amazing partner to us during this monumental transition. They were available any time to answer questions, provide help or find a resource. They even provided guidance to us based on experience they had with other clients moving to Epic. All around, working with iMethods was a great experience. We continue to lean on iMethods for expertise in various aspects of our IT operations.”
