Athens Regional Health System | Athens, Ga.
Staff and clinicians of the health system had reportedly expressed several concerns over the "aggressive" rollout of its $31 million Cerner EHR, which started beginning of May 2014, according to a report in the Banner-Herald.
The report cited a letter sent to CEO James Thaw, signed by more than a dozen clinicians, recounting cases of medication errors, misplaced orders, "emergency department patients leaving after long waits; and of an inpatient who wasn't seen by a physician for (five) days." There was so much criticism toward upper management's handling of the rollout, it reportedly led to the resignation of Thaw and CIO Gretchen Tegethoff. | Photo: Brad Aaron, Flickr 2002
Maine Medical Center | Portland, Maine
Four months after the hospital's December 2012 go-live of its $160 million Epic EHR, Maine Medical Center CIO Barry Blumenfeld, MD, was out of a job, and hospital CEO Richard W. Petersen announced a delay in rolling out the EHR to other MaineHealth locations. In an April 2013 letter to employees, he pointed to a $13.4 million operating loss in a six-month period. Part of that loss, he said, came from the launch of the EHR. "The launch of the shared electronic health record has had some unintended financial consequences," he wrote. Much of these consequences stemmed from serious charge capture issues. For starters, for a period of six weeks, caesarian sections were not charged, according to one Maine Medical nurse.
Mountainview Medical Center | White Sulphur Springs, Mt.
In December 2013, the rural Montana hospital filed suit against EHR vendor NextGen Healthcare, alleging the company violated its contract. In September 2012, the six-bed hospital entered into a software agreement with NextGen which stipulated the EHR provider would install a system no later than June 2013, a system which allowed the hospital to meet meaningful use requirements. However, NextGen failed to meet the go-live deadline and subsequently requested a four-month extension to October 2013, the complaint alleges. Moreover, the critical access hospital, after spending more than $441,000 to install the EHR, discovered the EHR system did not meet 2014 MU standards.
Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center | Winston-Salem, N.C.
The Epic EHR implementation at Wake Forest Baptist reportedly was plagued with problems and unforeseen expenses. According to an August 2013 audit report, the Epic EHR resulted in a $55.1 million operating loss for the 2012-2013 fiscal year. The hospital cited $8 million in "other Epic-related implementation expense(s)," according to a Winston-Salem Journal report. The implementation, according to hospital officials, led to "business-cycle disruptions (that) have had a greater-than-anticipated impact on volumes and productivity. Sheila Sanders, the chief information officer of the hospital, who was hired in 2009 to implement the EHR stepped down from her post in May 2013 amid the troubled rollout. | Photo: Ryan Schreiber, Flickr 2010
Affinity Medical Center | Massillon, Ohio
Citing insufficient training, system shortfalls and the hospital's failure to involve direct-care nurses in the implementation process, RNs at the 266-bed Affinity Medical Center in northern Ohio asked hospital officials to delay rollout of its new Cerner EHR. The 250 direct care nurses, represented by the National Nurses United -- a national RN union, called into question the safety of such a system that prevents registered nurses from overriding the EHR in many cases. NNU Spokesperson Liz Jacobs told Healthcare IT News last June that nurses only received one day of training; she also cited unclear communication over implementation details. | Photo: NNU picket at Affinity Medical Center, courtesy of NNU.
Ventura County Health Care Agency | Thousand Oaks, Calif.
The county-run healthcare system made serious missteps with its EHR implementation -- this according to a grand jury investigation, which concluded the agency neglected to plan, hire and adequately train staff for the switchover. Moreover, the jury report highlighted the fact that the agency had no project manager for the implementation further hindering chance of successful rollout. Ventura had tapped Cerner for a $32 million EHR contract. "User license requirements were underestimated by VCHCA leading to inadequate system capacity -- Cerner later provided additional licenses; training of the staff was insufficient leading to inexperience with components of the EHR early in its implementation," according to the report. | Photo: Ventura County Medical Center, Google 2013.
Girard Medical Center | Girard, Kan.
