Laying the 6.0 Groundwork
Wayne Memorial Hospital shares its preparations for a smooth MAGIC to 6.0 migration.


As a MEDITECH MAGIC customer for 15 years and the first hospital in North Carolina to license MEDITECH's Bedside Verification (BV) solution, Wayne Memorial Hospital (Goldsboro, NC) has long been aiming to stay ahead of the information technology curve. The 316-bed, state-of-the-art facility showed its pioneer spirit once again, when leaders made the decision to become one of the first MEDITECH 6.0 early adopters.

"We've always prided ourselves on our forward thinking," says Jeff Brogneaux, RN, EDM core team leader, and director of nursing informatics at Wayne Memorial Hospital. "We've had unsurpassed success as a MAGIC customer for many years. But as we've grown and evolved, we found that 6.0 really meets our needs for the challenges we're facing today."

Teaming Up for Success
Prior to the migration, Wayne leaders made sure their organization was as prepared as possible, by establishing the correct infrastructure and hardware, as well as forming a Physician Advisory Council, Application Teams, and training and clinical practice guidelines for nursing.

"When choosing members to be part of Core Teams, we selected people we knew were go-getters and could work well as part of a team," says Brogneaux. The Physician Advisory Council was comprised of an ED physician, intensivist, and surgeon, while the Application Teams consisted of those clinicians who were deemed "best in their fields." All teams met on a regular basis to discuss how the system would help them meet their specific patient care goals.

"We made sure everyone understood the reasoning behind our decision to migrate to 6.0, and we took it upon ourselves to address any questions or concerns staff members had about the new platform," says Betty Wood, RN, BSN, PCS core team leader, and administrative director of med/surg and ICU. "Even though there were differences along the way, teams viewed their time together as a chance to voice their opinions and work together collaboratively, to figure out how the solution would best meet their individual needs as care providers."

Preparation is Key
Of course, as with any new implementation, one the biggest concerns was getting end-users comfortable with the new system. "We established new guidelines and processes for using 6.0, so clinicians would know up-front, exactly what was expected of them," says Susan Odum, senior nursing systems analyst. "We also modified our training requirements from two eight-hour days to one 12 hour day, to better accommodate our staff's busy schedules."

Prior to the migration, the folks at Wayne also had to evaluate a high volume of reports, to determine which were necessary moving forward, and which were redundant. In addition, they selected the devices that would be optimal for caregivers using the system on a daily basis. "By doing this prep work in advance, we knew it would be much easier to keep everyone focused and on-board with the project, once we went LIVE," says Odum.

A Great Beginning
By planning well in advance, leaders at Wayne made certain that staff had plenty of support and resources in place on the day of go-LIVE. "MEDITECH support staff members were on-site and ready to provide assistance at a moment's notice, and our support and command center was accessible 24/7," says Brogneaux.

"Because we took the time to maximize our resources and determine how to get our physicians, nurses, and clinicians the information they need, we were able to make the implementation a success. Going LIVE was not the end goal, it was only the beginning for us."

Eighteen months after going LIVE with 6.0, Wayne Memorial continues to create new processes and make adjustments in order to keep up with the changing health care industry. "We recently went LIVE with MEDITECH's Physician Documentation solution. We have plans for CPOE next Spring, and we are actively preparing for Meaningful Use," Brogneaux adds. "It's a great deal of work but when all the pieces come together, it's gratifying to see the improvements in patient care and safety throughout our hospital."