Henry County Medical Center in Paris, Tennessee, just completed a nine-month Allscripts Paragon (formerly McKesson) EHR upgrade project. This upgrade included moving to a remote hosting environment from on-premise. On another front, the medical center currently is in the final phase of implementation of a secure messaging application that just went live in November.

“One of our big challenges is to keep our EHR fully utilized by our staff,” said Pam Ridley, IT director at the 142-bed provider. “Therefore, IT has been working on two different optimization projects to increase the efficiency of the screen layouts and eliminate duplicate charting for nursing and other ancillary departments.”

The changes implemented thus far have been well-received, she added. And the IT infrastructure group has been busy ensuring all requirements are met for the conversion to hosting from on-premise as well as hardening the wireless network to ensure the messaging application works with no issues.

Ridley said that the people working day-in and day-out at the hospital are what makes the facility, and the IT department, a great place to work.

“Everyone wants to do their best in whatever role they serve at HCMC,” she said. “Our leadership team is dedicated to seeing that this hospital remains a community hospital. Our new brand, ‘We Believe HOME is HCMC,’ reflects the culture of our organization. And we have a lot of technology, from advanced MRI machines to robotic surgeries to room service for meals. But you will overwhelmingly hear that the people are what makes HCMC a great place to work.”

Ridley offers this advice to colleagues looking to run a winning IT department.

“Communicate,” she said. “Not only about projects and things in IT – but every facet of the organization. Set expectations and goals and celebrate when they are achieved.”

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Twitter: @SiwickiHealthIT
Email the writer: bill.siwicki@himssmedia.com