Customer Testimonial

MedWest Health System

North Carolina Paragon HIS

Dale Chernich Chief Information Officer

User Satisfaction: The Key to Meaningful Use

I have been working with best-of-breed systems for most of my career, but when I first started out, there wasnt anything that could be considered a complete system. I was quite happily surprised when I first started working with the Paragon hospital information system (HIS) from McKesson because its probably the most complete system Ive seen for the number of dollars that you spend to get it.
- Dale Chernich

User Satisfaction: The Key to Meaningful Use

By Dale Chernich MedWest Health System

At a Glance Organization
MedWest Health System: - MedWest-Swain, Bryson, N.C. 48 beds - MedWest-Harris, Sylva, N.C. 86 beds - MedWest-Haywood, Clyde, N.C. 189 beds

I first started out working in information technology nearly 45 years ago when most of the work was done behind the scenes with the primary focus being on system operations and data collection. Times have changed. Now healthcare IT is more about getting information to those on the front line of healthcare delivery in a way that is most useful to them. That has never been as true as it is in todays age of ARRA and meaningful use. Meaningful use itself is a relatively simple concept: demonstrate that caregivers are utilizing the system in a meaningful way. Like most things though, especially in information technology, the devil is in the details. I feel that we in IT have an obligation to provide information to people who need it, when they need it and in the way they need it. Its a lot more difficult to get to meaningful use if your users cannot (or will not) easily engage and embrace the system as part of the way that they deliver care. So first and foremost its about making the frontline users happy. Its my belief, therefore, that system attributes like user-friendliness, ease of access to information and ability to adapt to clinical workflows should all be key elements in selecting a healthcare information system. In addition, selecting a vendor with whom your team can establish a constructive working relationship is a critical factor to putting your institution on the path toward demonstrating meaningful use by the Stage 1 deadline of July 1, 2013.

Critical Issues
- Satisfying frontline users - Achieving ARRA meaningful use objectives - Consolidating health system onto a single platform

Keeping up with new demands being placed on information technology management means you cannot just rely on system upgrades or even established vendor relationships. You have to rethink where you are, where you must go, the needs of your users and the capabilities of vendors in an effort to identify the best fit to meet those increasing demands with the meaningful use deadline clock all the while ticking in your head. I have been working with bestof-breed systems for most of my career, but when I first started out, there wasnt anything that could be considered a complete system. I was quite happily surprised when I first started working with the Paragon hospital information system (HIS) from McKesson because its probably the most complete system Ive seen for the number of dollars that you spend to get it. Two of our hospitals that make up the recently formed MedWest Health System, MedWest-Harris and MedWest-Swain, have been successfully running the Paragon system for nearly six years. The experience at these facilities has been so good that the third hospital in the MedWest Health System is now in the process of converting to Paragon from a different legacy HIS vendor. We anticipate being completely up and demonstrating meaningful use stage 1 with Paragon in all three of our facilities by July 2012, well in advance of the July 2013 deadline. Importantly, when we went live at Harris and Swain, we didnt pull everyone off their jobs and have them do nothing but build Paragon.

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Results
- Innovative system design frees users to create their own reports - Trusted vendor that delivers on commitments - Paragon selected for all MedWest facilities

Im not saying it was easy, but we had them working with Paragon while doing their day jobs and it still worked. To me, thats the hallmark of a great system one that makes it possible for users to embrace it and incorporate it into their normal workflow despite the heavy demands they face every day. Based on the feedback I continue to receive from our staff, Im not surprised it has been selected as Best in KLAS1 for Community HIS every single year since 2006. Value the Opinion of Frontline Users From the beginning, our staff appreciated the thinking that went into the design of Paragon to make it user-friendly, able to provide ready access to information and adapt to the needs of users. Our director of pharmacy services, Mark Brudenell, has said that the simple Microsoft structure of Paragon means necessary data is just one click away. It also allows his staff of pharmacists and technicians to set up reports in the way that they need to see them, often saving them five to 10 minutes in report preparation for each report. Considering the volume of reporting required in Pharmacy, those minutes can add up to a lot of time over the course of each day that his staff can now redirect to patient care or clinician support. Claire Dills, our medical record director, sees it this way: If the CEO walks into my department, he doesnt want to know how many charts have been coded. He wants to know the dollars on hold and doesnt have two hours to wait for the information. With Paragon,

I dont have to have someone, somewhere else run that report for me. I can go right into the system and immediately get that information in a timely manner. On the clinical side, the flexibility built into the Paragon system shines by allowing the staff to work with the system to make it function in the way that the staff needs it to function, not the other way around. Our clinical analyst, Angie Baldwin, once told me something that stuck with me. She said, We werent just handed a system and told to adapt; we were able to take our current method of how we worked and Paragon adapted to that. As we continue to make process improvements, Paragon has been able to adapt to those, too. Thats a pretty tall order for any system, but Paragon seems to take it all in stride. I think Debbie Jefferies, our IS clinical coordinator, summarized the feelings of the staff best when she said, We were very happy when the entire MedWest organization decided to go with Paragon. At that point, we knew we would have a system that would work well for us and that would allow us to meet meaningful use stage 1. Consider the Importance of the Working Relationship A successful hospital has a lot of moving parts and most of them are people. They are the big variables in making it all work. Once the decision of an HIS vendor is made, its one that you and your team will have to live with for several years. You therefore need a vendor that is not stuck in only one prescribed way of doing things. The vendor

MedWest-Haywood

MedWest-Harris

MedWest-Swain

We didnt pull everyone off their jobs and have them do nothing but build Paragon. Im not saying it was easy, but we had them working with Paragon while doing their day jobs and it still worked. To me, thats the hallmark of a great system. - Dale Chernich

relationship and the system have to grow and adapt to the needs of the people using it. Nathan Boniface, our manager of technical operations, has described the Paragon team as one that is open-minded to different solutions, listens to feedback, thinks outside the box and cares about whats important to us as the customer. One thing Nathan has also said that made me laugh is: Selecting a software vendor is like selecting a spouse there are a lot of things promised up front, but you have no idea whats going to be delivered until youve spent some time together. Truer words were never spoken, and I think its safe to say that in our experience, after spending nearly six years with Paragon, we have a very happy marriage. Roger Parris, our applications manager, has worked with several support teams in his role and has gone on record as rating the Paragon team as one of the top ones he has ever dealt with from the time of implementation right on through to the ongoing support we receive today. Thats a pretty bold statement from Roger, but I know that anytime we have asked for data or for something to be done, the team at Paragon gets it done in the time frame weve requested. If they say its going to be next month, we can anticipate that its going to be
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next month. That kind of reliability is very important to me and our administration. I have worked with a lot of systems over the course of my career, and I think that the way Paragon is designed is ideal. It starts with a focus on the end-user experience and collects the data all in one central database, making it easier to access and operate. Also important, Paragon isnt static. There is a steady build of the system based on ongoing input from users which continually improves and enhances the system. This approach keeps it in good shape and enhances buy in from the users ... and if Paragon stays in good shape, it means the institutions that are part of MedWest are going to stay in good shape, too. Paragon was the right decision for Harris and Swain, and I think it will be the right decision for all 300plus beds of the MedWest Health System as we go forward. Anyone who is considering an HIS selection to get them to meaningful use and beyond is welcome to visit me and Ill show you what we do. Youll see the Paragon system in operation its one system, its integrated and it does what you need to do to run a community hospital. Most importantly, whether theyre an experienced user or someone new to the system, everyone has been thrilled with the selection of Paragon. Thats something that always brings a smile to my face.

We were very happy when the entire MedWest organization decided to go with Paragon. At that point, we knew we would have a system that would work well for us and that would allow us to meet meaningful use stage 1. - Debbie Jefferies Information Systems Clinical Coordinator

Paragon HIS
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Source: 2006-2010 Top 20 Best in KLAS Awards: Software & Professional Services, www.KLASresearch.com. 2010 KLAS Enterprises, LLC. All rights reserved.

Copyright 2011 McKesson Corporation and/or one of its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Paragon is a registered trademark of McKesson Corporation and/or one of its subsidiaries. Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. All other product or company names mentioned may be trademarks, service marks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. PRT466-06/11