A quick story. I’m on ambulatory medicine at the VA. Yesterday I went to get a patient from the waiting room. A Black man who served in Vietnam. When I introduced myself as Dr. Igwe, he gave me a very strange look. I asked if I had the wrong person, but he said “no, that’s me”.
How to be hyper-efficient in #Epic#EHR — from a physician #informaticist who loves to flyyy on shift🧵
1️⃣ Smartphrases are the #1 documentation efficiency. Use a standard naming convention so you can find it quickly. I use:
.dc*** for discharge instructions (ie .dcviral, .dcchestpain)
.proc*** for procedures that aren’t smart blocks (.proccpr, .proctriggerpoint, etc.)
.hpi*** for standard history where I mark *** to cue the parts to fill out (.hpimvc, .hpitransfer, .hpistd)
.mdm*** for risk calculators that aren’t in Scoring Tools (.mdmPerc, .mdmCanada, .mdmHasbled, etc.)
2️⃣ Macros: same concept as smartphrases, but used for smart blocks (the click-buttons in Notewriter for Exam, ROS, Procedures, etc.)
3️⃣ Ctrl-space bar opens up a search function where you can search the entire chart. I.e. I’ll search “creatinine” to see if careeverywhere (OSH) has a creatinine documented outside my system to compare a baseline, or search “cancer” if a patient says they had cancer and I can’t figure out what type
4️⃣Epic has a whole free training series called “Power User” geared at clinicians of small 1-hour asynchronous topics of how to maximize efficiency. Pick and choose what’s relevant to your context/specialty. Check it out! https://t.co/NWYGiHfMeD
5️⃣Talk to your local Epic builders (called application analysts) or your Epic trainers/educators. There are a TON of customizations the system can do. Automated-drop-in’s (called CER rules, but basically like IF a patient has a systolic BP>140, THEN drop in a phrase mentioning you acknowledge and address it by ***), customizing your trackboard/patient lists, building data elements behind drop-downs (smartlists) so you can report on it, and overall helping you decrease clicks!
Epic is highly customizable, just need a clinical champion to work with analysts to understand where builds can help clinical workflow!
There are many more “hacks”, these are just some of my favorite!
(And, no conflicts with Epic, it’s just my favorite EHR out of Cerner, Meditech, Medhost, etc…)
Interested? Think about #informatics as a field OR talk to your local friendly physician informaticist (often CMIO at a hospital system!)
@AMIAinformatics@HIMSS #medtwitter
I graduated undergrad depressed with a 2.2 GPA.
I shouldn’t be a doctor
So it’s the I’m officially a SUMMA CUM LAUDE MEDICAL SCHOOL GRADUATE FOR MEEEEEE!
Certified and in God’s Hands 🙏🏽 All that traveling across the country and uber side hustling is paying off! I’m grateful to be part of #Match2023! If you’d like to support my transition, my @medgradwishlist is below. Thank U!
#MGWL23#MedGradWishList
https://t.co/lg6AtnzSor
If Twitter folds, I’d like to thank you all for allowing me to die on the following small mountain range of hills;
Women’s health is underfunded, undervalued, and underpaid relative to the immense skill involved
OB/GYN is too big and too complex to be contained into one field
Healthcare providers: please STOP refusing to fill birth control pills without an annual appointment. The risks of prescribing them do not outweigh the benefits of holding them hostage.
Jacqueline Pokuaa is a social worker who lost her life protecting a woman and newborn baby from a murderous gunman this weekend.
Jacqueline laid down her life in the service of others and we will not forget her sacrifice.
RIP Jacqueline 💔
Met a 27 yr old w/ stage IV triple neg breast cancer. Multiple med oncs refused to give her Keytruda bc she is 9 wks pregnant. Thanks to Abbott’s extreme abortion ban, she has to find the resources to terminate her pregnancy in another state or die from her cancer #Roevember