Peer-to-peer learning is an age-old recipe for successful adoption from end users whose day-to- day is being impacted by a new process, new technology, or in our case…a new Electronic Health Record (EHR). Both the teacher and the student truly gain from the exchange as they are aware of operational impacts, workflows and deliverables for which they are accountable. Awareness of a new EHR’s impact on an individual employee’s role can better help that employee deliver on their responsibilities and is not typically something a formal classroom setting or traditional curriculum materials can provide. It’s hearing, seeing, and understanding from other team members, who do what they do, that creates a better environment for learning, adoption, retention, and utilization of the organization’s investment.
Epic has been a longtime advocate of this type of peer-to-peer training model, what we’ve come to know as a Super User program. A Super User program is truly an enterprise-wide initiative within an organization, designed to support end users during all phases of the EHR lifecycle. CSI, a leading Training and Activation firm, has provided advisory, full project management and staffing support for clients who are creating and delivering an ongoing Super User program. The CSI Super User Advisory Program directly supports customers with initial program development and go-live planning, but also takes a deep look at post go-live events including ongoing new hire training needs, system enhancements, upgrades and new applications that continue to require Super User support well after the initial go-live.
There is much to plan for with many variables to consider when outlining a Super User program. It might be worth exploring some best practices for building out an ongoing program for your organization. The first of which is defining the role, outlining the duties, and agreeing on terms that go beyond the initial implementation effort. As part of Epic’s phase zero planning effort, agreement on approach, scope and delivery is essential for any Super User Program development.
CSI has a long history of helping customers develop Super User programs that create a comprehensive enterprise initiative aimed at fostering sustained, role-specific support within their various departments. A big part of the program is advising and creating an outline of the duties of the Super User and identifying any risks to operations. Working with the Training Program Director, our best practices include agreeing on the scope of the Super User and reviewing operational impacts to areas including patient access, revenue, and physician schedule adjustments. The combination of department-specific commitments and reinforcement of that support are all essentials to a successful program. The coordination from Trainers to Epic analysts to Super Users all have a direct positive impact on the end user’s adoption and overall satisfaction.
“An Epic Super User is a person who provides support for end-users in their department before, during, and after go-live,” as outlined within Epic’s planning guides. Their agreement to take on extra duties such as:
- Attend extra training to become more efficient in the system
- Assist in pre-live demos and end-user introductions
- Support peers during training classes
- Be the “Go-to” resource in their department
- Provide direct at-the-elbow support during go-live
- Escalate issues
- Report optimization/enhancement request
- Serve as ongoing go-to person post go-live
- Service as department representative to the Epic support team
As previously mentioned, early planning and development of the program includes a review of the type of resources needed to be a Super User, but also should include an outline of the qualifications, time commitments, union and/or regulation requirements, and if appropriate, pay impact. The core of governance planning is to include an understanding of limitations to staffing these roles, and any impact to operations within the department. From there it’s time to create the super users training schedules, eLearning requirements and classroom support needs. Agree to review the post-live milestones expected and efforts based on operation needs. This would include an outline of ongoing training support and materials, representation for the departments in which they reside, and ongoing upkeep in their skills as a super user.
Team collaboration is essential to future state design for the ongoing Super User program. Variations of staffing for Principal Trainers and combined application analyst teams are common for post-go-live staffing models. Those variations from pre to post-go-live should also be considered in the coordination for ongoing department-specific support needs. Continuing to provide a Super User Coordinator is a key area that CSI has laid out in our Program offering. However, regardless of using full-time resources or working with a firm like CSI, this role is imperative for so many training material updates, program design for new facilities, scheduling, cross-application coordination, and many other duties that can continue to be supported. Laying out this type of future needs roadmap is an essential element to the planning process, and we’ve seen true successes and long-term outcomes with our clients when they were introduced to it.
Finally, don’t forgot to Include the individual department leaders in discussions as they’ll need to understand the ongoing commitments and assure availability of those identified super users for all future projects, initiatives, and ongoing system improvements. As bigger initiatives start to take shape, whether it’s a new facility opening or new modules being installed, the foundation of the already established Super User program will help expedite the training needs across all impacted facilities and specialties.
For more information on CSI’s Super User Advisory Program and other Training support services, visit our Super User Page today!
About the Author
Douglas Herr is the Senior Vice President of Client Services and Strategy at CSI. Doug draws on 25 years of experience in Healthcare IT with expertise in governance planning, operational staffing models, training program development, and EHR implementations. Across both large healthcare systems and Ambulatory facilities, Doug has worked closely with clients to ensure their success with variety of project efforts from enterprise-wide implementations, ongoing optimization initiatives, training design needs and Managed Services support models.
