On 8 March, the Victorian Heart Hospital (VHH) went live with its new inpatient digital health systems and technologies, alongside the transition of 22 patients from Monash Medical Centre to the VHH, marking a major milestone for our people and patients.
Implementing the new systems, including Automated Medication Cabinets, digital ECG capture, clinical handsets, and other advanced digital capabilities, all integrated with the EMR, resulted from years of planning, collaboration, and hard work by interdisciplinary teams across Monash Health.
To support the Go-Live event, a command centre was set up onsite at VHH. This included teams from the EMR and Informatics program, external vendors, Monash Health’s Information Technology and Project Management Office, as well as digital Super Users, Support Crew and Trainers who were deployed throughout the hospital to provide rapid support to clinicians and clinical support teams.
On such an exceptional day, we wanted the inside story from our people ‘around the ground’ about what it’s like to reach such an exciting milestone.
Chief Nursing and Midwifery Information Officer and General Manager of the EMR and Informatics Program, Associate Professor Naomi Dobroff, spoke about the support and collaboration between our people, “It has been an extraordinary experience to be here at the VHH supporting the clinical and operational teams with the opening of this amazing facility. Our team and the vendors have been on site ensuring the technology, EMR modules and workflows are implemented and performing optimally. Nursing, medical, pharmacy, allied health and support services were all using these for the first time today, so we ensured they felt supported, and it has been incredibly successful.”
Some of our teams have been working towards this day for a long time; Program Director EMR and Informatics, Associate Professor Michael Franco said, “The VHH is one of the most digitally enabled hospitals in the country. Over the past two years, we have collaborated closely with clinical, operational, and technical teams and our external vendors. This partnership has culminated in our full Go Live today, allowing us to safely transfer patients and start their care in Australia’s first dedicated cardiac hospital.”
Sara Bennett, Transformation Lead from the EMR and Informatics Program, can see all the hard work and preparation come to fruition, “I love the high energy and excitement of Go-Live. Working with the Command Centre team and our Super Users to bring the digital workflows to life and support the users is amazing to be part of. It makes all of the hard work worth it.”
Super Users, expertly trained to use the EMR and integrated systems, played a vital role throughout the hospital in providing on-the-ground support for any queries or issues that arose utilising the technology.
Dina Ramahi, Clerical Administration and Bed Management Super User, supported admin officers and bed managers during Go-Live, “It was very well organised, and the communication with my team made it easy to provide support and find solutions to problems. It’s been a busy day, but my training has prepared me, and I am confident I know what to do and can help provide a smooth workflow.”
Throughout Go-Live, various initiatives were implemented to ensure the team were across all issues, questions, and solutions, including huddles throughout the day and MS Teams channels to harness solutions across the groups in real time.
“Team huddles have been vital in making the day easier. MS Teams channels mean the whole team can stay across what queries are arising and what is happening across the hospital; sometimes, you have an answer before you even think to ask the question!” Dina said.
Denise Owen, the Director of Digital Health Training and Adoption, coordinated onsite teams providing support to adapt to the new digital workflows. “I am delighted to have participated in the hugely successful VHH Go-Live event. Being onsite where we could coordinate the digital Super Users and Trainers to deliver rapid at-the-elbow support across the hospital was incredibly effective in ensuring the clinicians and clinical support teams could adapt to the new digital workflows.”
With the successful implementation of the new systems and workflows, the hospital is set up for continued success and improved patient care.
Denise added, “I feel confident that our employees will continue to embed the new digital workflows, systems, and devices across VHH with the support of the VHH EMR Champions and referring to the EMR guides available on the EMR Knowledge Hub as required.”
Congratulations to all the teams who worked on commissioning and going live at Australia’s first dedicated cardiac hospital. This is a culmination of many years of work, and we couldn’t have done it without you.
Working at the VHH and want to stay in the know about all things EMR? Make sure you bookmark the EMR Knowledge Hub.
Approved by:
- Associate Professor Naomi Dobroff, Chief Nursing & Midwifery Information Officer / General Manager, EMR & Informatics Program
- Associate Professor Michael Franco, Chief Medical Information Officer / Program Director EMR and Informatics Program