Great ideas abound at Saint Francis
Upgrades have been top of mind for the 36-member IT staff at Saint Francis Medical Center, a 280-bed hospital in Cape Giradeau, Mo.
With a best-of-breed environment that has been eschewed by many CIOs these days, the Saint Francis CIO and IT staff have their work cut out for them. Best-of-breed is about to become history at Saint Francis. It makes for a mountain of work, but well worth the effort, says CIO Edward E. Duryee.
Today, Saint Francis operates with five separate EHRs, one for the hospital, another for the ER and three for physician practices. One of the vendors is about to cease supporting its product.
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Saint Francis is preparing to go to a one-vendor platform.
"We are now in the thick of evaluating," says Duryee. "The staff is on board "because it's the right thing to do, and they're pleased that the organization is doing it right – and coming up with the funding to do it right."
Duryee credits IT success at Saint Francis to IT staff "teamwork" and "cohesion and support from management."
They are "very smart and talented people, so it's always energizing," Duryee says. "They've always got great ideas. That's what I like."
This year will mark Duryee's first full year at Saint Francis, after succeeding Diana Smith, who held the CIO post for 40 years.
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