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Well this is it. The countdown begins. In 365 days, my hospital will go-live with our new healthcare software. Our go-live has been in the works for some time now but the countdown to December 2, 2012 has officially begun. Am I stressed? You bet. This is my first inpatient implementation and quite excited about it. I missed the previous software implementation a few years ago.
So far, I have a few deadlines looming in the near future. At this moment, what is difficult for me is prioritizing my time. It’s hard to see the big picture right now and there are so many people working on this project. My own work is a smaller piece of that “bigger picture”. I know at the end it will be well worth it.
My experience has been implementing ambulatory clinics. I am comfortable with clinics – they are so much smaller than an actual hospital. My other experience includes maintaining the electronic health record, not as exciting as implementing, but definitely challenging. I know my experience is these two areas will help me as I continue my career.
I will be writing a regular post about my go-live each week and counting the days. Due to privacy, I will not be revealing anyone’s names or which software vendor we are working with. I will be writing about my own experience and hopefully it will be a learning tool for me and others who may not be in the healthcare informatics industry but is considering in getting a job in the industry in the future.
I became a nurse to make a difference in my patient’s lives and hopefully working on the information technology end will help many clinicians and patients and hopefully saving their lives as well.
*DISCLOSURE: I will not disclose the name of the hospital or the software and people’s name have been changed for privacy.
