1 Susan Tyner Pritchett, RN Information System Specialist Medical College of Georgia Health, Inc th St. Augusta, GA

2 Key Skills for Building and Maintaining a Successful Operating Room Information Specialist Team

3 478 Bed Adult Hospital 154 Bed Children’s Hospital 90+ Outpatient Clinics Level I Trauma Center Physicians/Staff and Students Radiology Dept is rated among the top 3 in the nation US News and World Report Year votes our Physicians among "Americas Top Doctors" (the top 1 percent) 30 Operating Rooms, 35 Anesthesia workstations in various recovery rooms and lab locations. Medical College of Georgia Health Inc

4 Why We Created a Specialized Operating Room IS Team for Anesthesia Failures happen. Our Goal: Eliminate common failures The equipment costs were substantial Stress levels run high Computer technology staff was not clinically oriented E Charting had become vital enough to warrant personalized attention Place key IT resources at point of service to respond rapidly to needs

5 Determine Team Coverage Needs Coverage 8 hours ? 12 hours ? 24-7 ? Who will work Nights Who will work Weekends Who will be on Call Any team member should be flexible enough to fill any shift

6 Determine Team Structure Supervision Team Leader Team Members and Ample Assistance Any team member should be flexible enough to fill any role

7 To Build and Maintain An OR Team Identify and Recruit Candidates Teach Individuals Test, Precept, and Check Off Team Members Establish a Chain of Communication Identify Links of Support for the Team Plan Scheduled Meetings

8 The Operating Room Is A Very Special Environment

9 Identify and Recruit Individuals Who are Enthusiastic & Willing Confident &Comfortable Working in The Operating Room Environment

10 Individuals That Could Be Considered A Clinician with Technological Capabilities A Computer Technician with Clinical Capabilities In either case the team candidate will have much to learn

11 Teach OR Team Candidates Either candidate type will need to be educated as though they will be a part of the OR staff Clinicians will need instruction for the computer technology Non-medical computer technicians will need to be oriented to the clinical surroundings

12 Test Candidate Capabilities For the Non-Medical Computer Tech Candidate Oral Exam Medical Terminology Acronyms Base Candidacy on Medical Competence Written Exam Hospital Policies And Procedures

13 Test Candidate Capabilities For the Clinical Candidate Oral Exam Technical Terminology & PC Architecture Base Candidacy on Technical Competence Written Exam Hospital Information Systems Infrastructure & CIS

14 Precept Team Member Candidates Orient to OR environment just as any new employee Observe surgical procedures Identify and provide written resources for OR policies Introduce concepts of scrub use, dynamics of surgical traffic flow, cores and airflow Identify conditions to enter rooms during procedures Even Clinicians  May have never been employed in the OR  May not be aware of the volatile, chaotic and graphic environment  May not be educated about the OR policies and procedures

15 Check Off Construct and implement check offs for candidates from any background for a concrete foundation of competency Include both IT and Clinical check off points Keep check offs current as they apply to dynamics of team responsibilities

16 Communication Skills Reporting: –Daily or team shift reports Documenting: –All communication concerning team activities –Vendor support communication: Consider your monetary investment Identifying: –Alternative contact resources such as ANIA or other institutions utilizing similar applications

17 Pathway to Collaboration Outline a Chain of Command for : Operating Room Authority IS Supervisory Staff Networking Services Biomedical Assistance Information Security Officiate

18 Don’t Forget to Document! Culminate and document contacts for resources –Vendors –Hardware –Software –Materials –Supplies –Technical Support Build a Textbook for future reference and staffing needs

19 Collaborate Communicate Document Shift ReportsVendor Support Network & Information Security Support Scheduled Meetings Alternate Support Informatics Groups Similar Institutions Groups Supervisory, BioMed OR Staff Communication, Collaboration & Documentation are Key

20 One Further Consideration Who will Help? Absences Upgrades Downtime It is not going to be easy to fill gaps for this very special environment.

21 MCGHI IS Specialized Team Successes! Near elimination of hardware damage A drastic reduction in emergent calls and hardware failures Now considering this type of specialized team in other areas The only turn over of specialized staff in the first 2 years was related to promotion

22 Questions?