Epiphany Healthcare Blog

Congratulations! You’ve realized that implementing a Healthcare IT software program such as Cardio Server will help your organization become more efficient, save money, and eliminate manual steps, thus saving time. You’ve done a lot of research to get to this point. However, now you’ve reached a new challenge, which is getting your department and supervisors to agree that implementing this particular software, in fact, is the right decision for your organization. Below are a few recommendations that can help you with the next steps.

1. Leverage testimonials and reference accounts

If you know of another hospital that has been successful with the software you’re recommending, promote their success story to your team. If you need a reference account to contact for more specific feedback regarding their opinions on Cardio Server, just ask an Epiphany Representative and we can provide references that had similar requirements.

2. Get buy-in from your physicians

If you’re making a recommendation that your physicians adopt a new software program, it’s a good idea to make sure they’re on board, or better yet excited, to use the application. Epiphany’s Physician Overview Video is a helpful tool because it’s a tour of our software from their perspective. They can also sign up for a live webinar, customized for a physician’s workflow needs.

3. Put your vendor team to work

Epiphany representatives have the tools needed to provide you with a free workflow analysis to help you position our software to your departments. The end product of this discussion is a visual overview of what manual steps our software eliminates, an estimate of potential cost-savings, and labor costs that can be reduced. Seeing the results is an eye-opener for decision-makers, as it helps determine overall ROI.

4. Reduce uncertainty

Once you make a decision on an application, let your team know what will happen next. Feel free to schedule a consultation with our Implementations Director to talk about the Epiphany process going forward. Having all of these details up front will drastically help your team and supervisors to get the big picture before a final decision is made.

We want to empower you to improve patient care at your organization, and often improving the technology behind your daily workflow is a giant step in the right direction. Consider the steps above to help get your team and/or supervisors on board. Your Epiphany team is here to help you make an informed decision that you’re happy with.

Have you heard of National Doctor’s Day?  This national holiday took 58 years to become more than just a local holiday.  National Doctor’s Day is celebrated on March 30th in the United States and praises physicians for the work they do supporting their patients and their communities.  On this day, Epiphany would like to take a moment to thank each and every provider for their diligence to detail, timely diagnosis, and passion for the wellness of their patients who are our family.

The first Doctor’s Day can be traced back to a small town in Georgia called Winder.  On March 30, 1933 Eudora Brown Almond, the wife of a prominent Georgian doctor, wanted to create a day to recognize and honor doctors.  She mailed greeting cards to all of the doctors she knew and even placed flowers on the graves of deceased physicians. The flowers she placed on the graves of these doctors that are still used to celebrate National Doctor’s Day today are red carnations.

Even though this day was celebrated locally since 1933, it wasn’t a national holiday until Congress passed Proclamation 6253 in 1991.  March 30th was chosen because Dr. Crawford W. Long used an ether anesthetic for the first time on this day during surgery in 1842.

Epiphany would like thank the many providers who utilize Cardio Server on this special day.  We love hearing your feedback whether it be the ease of access from anywhere on any device including computers, tablets, or mobile devices or feedback regarding our features such as our advanced calipers.

We are happy to serve over 850 hospitals allowing providers to devote more time with their patients and less time on the clerical tasks.  Happy Doctor’s Day to each of you!

Workflow efficiency. Process improvement. Streamlining care delivery. There are lots of ways to talk about what we all want in the healthcare workplace. But no matter the terminology, we are all saying the same thing: We want to work better and we want to work faster. 

In healthcare, information exchange is more critical than in any other industry. So why is it so difficult to develop accurate, reliable data exchange? Close your eyes for a moment and envision the perfect workflow. Dream up a system that provides the best care to patients with minimal complications for facilities and staff. Electronic records move seamlessly between providers. On-time, correct orders and billing, even on weekends or holidays, move seamlessly in a system regardless of staff availability. Studies are viewed instantly from mobile devices, from anywhere, and results are quickly returned.

The need for a streamlined, well-oiled healthcare machine is the foundation of Epiphany. Epiphany’s application, Cardio Server, is a web-based, user-friendly application that receives, manages, and exports diagnostic test data from over 125 devices to EMRs. With Cardio Server, creating confirmed, digitally signed ECGs, stress, Holter, PFT, cardiac rehab, and other diagnostic test reports is simple and fast. Cardio Server provides rapid exchange of information between providers, in an orderly system, for the following reasons:

• Primary care physicians and clinics are linked to the hospital’s electronic systems via Cardio Server so communication is fast and reliable.
• Epiphany’s software is non-proprietary. Devices all work together, regardless of vendor, so that interfaces can share information efficiently.  That means fewer frustrations for professionals who are unwilling or unable to switch from comfortable platforms to new technologies.
• Epiphany supports bi-directional communication of patient demographics and other important patient information between Cardio Server and ECG, stress, PFT, and Holter devices eliminating orphaned results where demographics are mistyped into a device.
• Cardio Server is a web-based software that allows access from anywhere, smoothing scheduling hiccups and erasing distance, even across time zones.
• Individual physician preferences are important. Exchanging information between providers should be intuitive and should reduce, not add to, the frustrations inherent in working with modern technology.  Epiphany’s Cardio Server contains several different ways to view and edit study data, so each user can utilize his or her preferred method.
• When a study receives a first look from an ED physician or a cardiology fellow, who do not have final-reading privileges, Cardio Server allows for the study to be marked preliminary awaiting a cardiologist’s or an attending physician’s final interpretation.
• The benefits are measurable and immediate across the cardiology, pulmonary, emergency, or other hospital departments. Cardio Server eliminates data-retrieval delays when seconds count.
• Cardio Server’s digital workflow provides significant financial benefits as staff focus on patient care instead of chart pulls and from consolidating several device interfaces into one cost-effective integration.

The healthcare industry will never be flawless. There are too many human variables; there is too much unpredictability. But easing communication between providers is a giant step in the right direction. Cardio Server bridges the gap between your physicians and device manufacturers for rapid information exchange. 

Call it efficiency, streamlining, or improvement. The result is the same: working better, working faster.

Speed and efficiency are critical aspects of patient care. Timely receipt and transfer of study data, diagnosis, billing information, etc., are vital in today's healthcare market. Manual order reconcillliation is a tedious process and we have the solution. 

At Epiphany, we love to hear news of improved workflow from our customers. Merit Health Wesley, a 211-bed hospital in Hattiesburg, MS, has been using Cardio Server for eight years to manage their ECGs.

Rhonda Hudson, Respiratory Care Clinical Supervisor, recently shared her Epiphany story with us.

Before Implementing Epiphany

Before implementing Cardio Server, orders were placed/printed to the department, a technician performed the ECG, and two copies were printed (one for the chart and one for the physician’s interpretation). Technicians would search through files for prior ECGs for comparison and place them in the physician’s inbox for a hand-written interpretation and signature. Once interpreted, the technician scanned the ECG into the patient's medical record. The original signed copy was maintained in a patient file. 

After Implementing Epiphany

Today, the order appears on a task list. The technician performs the ECG and transmits the ECG to Epiphany where it automatically matches to the order and sends a preliminary/unconfirmed result to the patient’s medical record. The physician interprets/confirms the ECG result in Epiphany (electronically signs it) and the preliminary/unconfirmed result is replaced in the patient’s medical record by the confirmed result.

When asked to summarize how Cardio Server has helped her organization, Rhonda stated: “Faster ECG results. Easier charge reconciliation. Faster comparison to the patient’s prior ECG results and a reduction in staff, paper, and storage space.” She added that Epiphany’s technical support is quick to respond to any issues. 

About Merit Health Wesley
As an affiliate of the state’s largest healthcare system, Merit Health Wesley is committed to providing superior care across the Pine Belt. Recognized for patient safety and for top performance on key quality measures, Merit Health Wesley is also the area’s first and only accredited Chest Pain Center and only area hospital to be accredited for Heart Failure care. For more information about Merit Health Wesley, call 601-268-8000 or visit MeritHealthWesley.com.

If your hospital organization’s paper-based workflow is similar to the ‘before’ scenario Rhonda described above, contact us for a free webinar demonstration of our system today.

During implementation of Epiphany Healthcare’s Cardio Server at Montgomery County Memorial Hospital (“MCMH”) in Red Oak, IA, a cumbersome paper-based workflow was replaced with an online, digital ECG management system.

Before

Prior to implementing Cardio Server, a patient’s ECG was printed out as many as three times with multiple copies of the study going to the patient’s chart, physician’s dictation inbox, cardiology department file, etc. During our workflow analysis, Epiphany learned it required manually matching the patient’s transcribed ECG result to the patient chart and medical record, which was a labor intensive and error-prone process. The ECGs were dictated by the physician, results were matched to the hard-copy ECG, and then sent to the physician’s inbox for signature. Once signed, the ECG was sent to Medical Records where the ECG was manually scanned into the EMR and then shredded.

With MCMH’s existing process, which contained several potential points-of-failure, it could sometimes take up to two months for a study to be fully completed in the EMR. The staff at MCMH was eager to analyze and streamline their workflow problems with an ECG management system.

Epiphany’s Cardio Server is a browser-based, digital ECG management system that brings in studies from hundreds of devices, regardless of vendor, and exports results to EMRs.

Ron Kloewer, CIO at Montgomery County Memorial Hospital, stated:

After: 

Below are the five workflow problems that Epiphany eliminated at MCMH:

1. Multiple paper copies of each ECG—Staff at MCMH printed multiple copies of the same test results (sometimes on different colored thermal paper for unconfirmed and confirmed ECGs; sometimes mounted on cardboard backing to create a hard copy).
   
   Epiphany’s Cardio Server presents the ECGs online for the physician to view, measure with calipers, compare to previous ECGs, edit, confirm. Once confirmed, Cardio Server supports required report distribution, sends messages to billing, notifies providers, and tracks interactions with the reports. All of these functions are digital, requiring no paper printing. 

2. Delayed ECG interpretations—With a paper-based workflow, ECGs awaited physician interpretation until the reading physician returned to the department.
   
   Epiphany’s Cardio Server automatically promotes ECGs to the inbox of the scheduled reading physician where they can be read from any PC in the hospital or read remotely with permissions from IT. Furthermore, automated reports track the status of ECGs, including reports from the time when the ECG was posted to the physician’s inbox until the time when the ECG was read and confirmed.

3. Time consuming telephone calls—With a paper-based ECG workflow, MCMH’s staff fielded endless phone calls from surgery or referring physicians looking for the ECG results every day.
   
   Epiphany’s Cardio Server posts preliminary, unconfirmed ECGs with the cardiograph’s interpretation to the EMR as soon as it is acquired by the technician. Then, once read and confirmed, Epiphany automatically updates the unconfirmed ECG with the confirmed ECG in the EMR.  Now, surgery, referring physicians, etc. access the ECG interpretation and waveform image from the EMR whenever necessary.  They no longer call the department seeking ECG results.

See also: 10 Requirements for a Multi-Modality ECG Management System

4. Time consuming quest for the patient’s previous ECGs—With ECGs scanned into the EMR, and the associated delays in that process, MCMH experienced inconvenient access to previous ECGs for comparisons.
   
   Epiphany’s Cardio Server automatically presents the previous ECGs right below the current ECG for easy comparison; they are all in one place immediately.  Epiphany eliminated the long and frustrating search for ECGs in the scanned folder of the EMR, which was described as the EMRs’ “junk drawer.”  And, because of the weeks-to-months delay in final EMR scanning and posting with MCMH’s paper-based workflow, Epiphany eliminated the search to try and find a previous ECG for an acute patient before the ECG was in the EMR (a process that required searching for ECG files in the department after-hours).

5. Manual report management and distribution—Managing and distributing final ECG reports for ordering physicians, referring physicians, primary-care physicians, surgery, etc. was manual and time consuming.
   
   Epiphany’s Cardio Server posts the confirmed ECG interpretations in the EMR associated with a link to the ECG image so no hard copies are required to be printed, faxed, or mailed between locations or placed in the physicians’ hospital mailboxes. Cardio Server eliminates managing paper ECGs; eliminates keeping log books, mounting ECGs, pulling ECG files, re-filing ECGs, scanning ECGs, and shredding multiple copies of ECGs created in a paper-based environment.

After implementing Epiphany’s Cardio Server, MCMH solved its cumbersome paper-based workflow problems. Digital ECG management allows cardiologists to login to Cardio Server from every PC in the hospital or remotely with permissions from IT, compare a current ECG to the previous ECG, and make their interpretation on the ECG within a minute or two.  Once an ECG is confirmed in Cardio Server, results are automatically sent to the EMR, eliminating the paper-moving, pulling, filing, matching, scanning, and shredding process; eliminating a process that that could take days, weeks, or months.  MCMH’s whole workflow can now be completed within minutes on the same day.

At Epiphany we take pride in helping our customers address their workflow problems by assisting them in streamlining their workflow processes. Our implementations’ team, consisting of project managers, clinical training specialists, and software technicians, work closely with our customers through the implementation process to construct a more streamlined and efficient workflow. If your paper-based workflow is like the ‘before’ described above, give us a call.

Epiphany Healthcare is delighted to announce that Cardio Server was again named “KLAS Category Leader” for ECG Data Management in the 2015/2016 Best in KLAS Awards: Software & Services report.

This year’s award marks the seventh sequential year that Epiphany’s Cardio Server has been named number one by KLAS. The KLAS report recognizes the software and service organizations that excel in helping providers deliver better patient care. 

“Hearing that we are the KLAS Category Leader for the seventh year is an exciting moment for the Epiphany teams,” states Kelli Sudduth, VP of Professional Services at Epiphany. “Customer service is one of our most important goals as a company; this award reinforces how we continue to progress each year. We work every day to ensure the highest level of service to each customer. Whether a client is a community hospital or in a large IDN market, each one is important to us and managed as such. This recognition is a true representation of the company’s commitment to our customers.”

Cardio Server outscored GE MUSE as 2015/2016 Category Leader for ECG Data Management Solutions.

“2015/2016 Best in KLAS Awards: Software & Services,” January 2016. © 2016 KLAS Enterprises, LLC. All rights reserved.  www.KLASresearch.com.

Steve Fetrow, VP of Engineering at Epiphany had this to say when he heard the news: “Seven years as a KLAS Category Leader is an incredible honor. But we really have to thank our customers for being the inspiration for all that we have accomplished. Since founding the company twelve years ago, we have listened carefully to customers as they described problems handling test results. Those pain points became product ideas for 15 different diagnostic tests and vendors. Today we are being honored for ECG Management, but there is so much more.”

About Cardio Server:

Epiphany’s Cardio Server is a web-based management system that receives, manages, and exports diagnostic test results to the EHR. Cardio Server is vendor-neutral and communicates with over 125 devices from over 45 vendors. Physicians access and edit ECG and other diagnostic test results from anywhere with a standard web browser. Cardio Server provides easier integration since it accepts data from 15 different modality types such as PFT, stress, Holter, patient monitors, and more. Since Epiphany consolidates individual device interfaces to the EHR, Cardio Server is also a cost-effective solution.

About Epiphany Healthcare:

Epiphany Healthcare simplifies diverse clinical workflow using one consolidated EHR interface. Since Epiphany's Cardio Server is an ideal solution for integrated delivery networks, the number of installations has nearly tripled since Epiphany received their first KLAS award in 2009. Now with over 700 hospital customers in the US and abroad, Epiphany is committed to serving its customers’ needs through product innovation, the delivery of exceptional service, and an unwavering dedication to interoperability. Discover why Epiphany is the preferred provider when managing multi-vendor, multi-modality diagnostic test data.

About KLAS:

KLAS is a research and insights firm on a global mission to improve healthcare delivery by amplifying the provider's voice.  Working with thousands of healthcare professionals and clinicians, KLAS gathers data and insights on software, services, and medical equipment to deliver timely reports, trends and statistical overviews. The research directly represents the provider voice and acts as a catalyst for improving vendor performance. Follow KLAS on Twitter at www.twitter.com/KLASresearch.

Electrocardiograms are one of the most prolific examinations in a hospital. They may not be complicated to perform but the sheer number of them make ECGs a challenge to manage, particularly in hospitals working with paper-based ECGs.

We hear repetitive grievances from managers of paper-based departments. They typically state problems that relate to lost revenues from the ECGs as well as other study types. Problems include:

• Late physician over-reads that delay billing;
• Weekend/holiday orders and over-reads that get lost with weekend/holiday staff; and
• Human error in processing studies resulting in missed charges and duplicate billing.

Epiphany has solved these problems for dozens of formerly paper-based hospitals. Here is how it works:

• Configure Epiphany’s Cardio Server with orders, results, and billing modules;
• Orders come to Epiphany from your EHR and match to completed studies using patient ID, first name and last name;
• Completed studies promote to an unconfirmed queue for physicians to read;
• Physicians read from anywhere at any time versus only in the Cardiology Department;
• When they confirm the study, a result message automatically goes to the EHR along with a completion message that automatically goes to the billing system.

By having access to Cardio Server from anywhere, hospitals eliminate late physician over-reads; this happens daily and on weekends/holidays. By automatically linking orders to billing messages, human error in manual billing is eliminated; hospitals using Epiphany’s automated billing module no longer miss charges or double bill—they capture previously lost billing.

Additionally, we customize the billing workflow to your requirements. For instance, some of our customers want to separate technical from professional charges. We accomplish this by flexible triggers. In the separation instance, we trigger the technical charge once an order is linked to a study and promoted to the unconfirmed queue. The study is then read by the physician and confirmed. The physician’s confirmation triggers a second charge, the professional charge. (To learn more about Epiphany’s HL7 integration for automated billing, see our blog: “HL7 Integration Developments – Technical Charges, Professional Charges, and Credits.”)

On top of all the billing problems we solve, our formerly paper-based customers save money in the labor required to manually process ECGs. Many of them save enough money in the first year to pay for the entire system and enjoy the benefits of reduced labor costs forever. This also applies to other modality types, e.g., Holter, stress, PFT, and more. (See our blog: “Inefficient Paper Process Weighing You Down? Let us Analyze Your Workflow!”)

If you would like to improve efficiency and save money at your hospital or hospital system, contact Epiphany Healthcare today for a demonstration and see what Cardio Server can do for you!

After 10 years of working with Cardio Server for managing their ECG workflow, Diane Haseleu, Respiratory Therapy Manager and Glenda Mattocks, Cardiopulmonary Director at Jasper County Hospital in Rensselaer, IN, weighed in on their experience with the system.

Workflow Before Implementing Epiphany:

“We were faxing paper for confirmations and making many copies for physicians. Sometimes work needed to be duplicated because of lost paperwork. We were hunting charts to find old ECGs for comparison. Many hours were spent unproductively,” explained Diane.

Workflow Today:

“Today there is no lost paperwork. We can access old copies in seconds for comparisons. We’re able tomake changes with errors on confirm copies with no crossing out of incorrect information. We are also able to generate a report for all procedures done without having a log book system. Every step of the process is much easier,” she added.

Lastly, Diane stated that she would tell other hospitals that implementation and continued use of Cardio Server has helped her organization by reducing the amount of time “paper shuffling” and that “mistakes are easily fixed in one step.” Her hospital plans to add PFT and other modalities to their system.

Glenda Mattocks, Cardiopulmonary Director added, "Our turnaround time for an ECG went from sometimes up to an hour to 5 minutes on reading stat ECGs. Since we are a rural hospital and don't have a cardiologist on site 24-7, we always had to fax our ECGs to the cardiologist before implementing Epiphany. The liability for the physicians was high because of the poor quality of the faxed ECG."

Would you like to see how Epiphany can help your organization become more efficient?  Contact us for a free webinar demonstration of our system today.