George: So I see our CIS staff and other hospital staff writing and studying their scripts...

Jamie: Yes.

George: Is there a stage production going on that you haven't told me about?

Jamie: Nope.

George: Can you reply in something other than a monosyllabic response?

Jamie: Yes.

George: (grumble) So what are these scripts all about?

Jamie: Testing.

George: TESTING FOR WHAT !!!!!

Jamie: Epic.

George: I didn' t think the first go-live for Epic was until next summer?

Jamie: Right.

George:  Why are we testing now?

Jamie: Because.

George: BECAUSE WHY?????

Jamie: Safety.Quality.Satisfaction. Financial-performance.

George: Gotcha...that's two words.

Jamie: Nope

George: How do you figure?

Jamie: Hyphenated

George: "Financial Performance" is not a hyphenated word !!!

Jamie: Fine.

George: So we have started the first of many tests of the Epic applications to ensure that our desired workflows to support the overall goals of our implementation work according to our intended design to enable effective training and a successful go-live?

Jamie: Yes.

George: WHY DID YOU MAKE ME GO TO SUCH LENGTHS TO GET THIS UPDATE OUT OF YOU ??????

Jamie: I was just testing you.

George: (to himself: and I thought the Biden/Palin debate was tough!)

Jamie: OK, Mr. Vasquez...I've completed the upgrade to Office 2007, but when I try to use Word or Excel I am still getting the 2003 versions, why?

George: We intentionally left Office 2003 functional on all computers for a short time, as a safety net while everyone gets used to the new look and feel of Office 2007.  Because of that, your existing shortcuts are still pointed to Office 2003.  Visit the Help Desk website’s Office 2007 Upgrade Quick Reference Guide page for instructions on how to edit your existing shortcuts to launch 2007.

Jamie: I can’t figure out how to find some of the common functions that I used in Excel 2003 in the 2007 version, help!

George: Check out the interactive guides from Microsoft on the Help Desk website’s Office 2007 tutorials page.  Note that you will need internet access to use the guides!  You can just click on what you want to do in Excel 2003 and the guide will show you how to do the same thing in 2007.  Guides are available for all the Office applications, not just Excel!  Thanks to our top notch Help Desk for discovering this great feature!

Jamie:  You are a pretty savvy guy!

George: That's because we have a pretty savvy Help Desk...

Jamie: After my upgrade, I am getting prompted to install Instant Search, what should I do?

George: Instant Search should not be installed.  Instead, please check the box to not show the message again and close the window.  If the message persists, please contact the Help Desk.  As part of the installation, this is set to be disabled, but we have noticed a few customers are still getting prompted.

Jamie: Is it true that all computers with Office 2007 will now have Microsoft Publisher?  Will there be a cost?

George: Yes!  It’s true, and there’s no charge to your department.  As part of CMC’s enterprise agreement with Microsoft, CIS is now able to provide Publisher on all computers that already have Office.

Jamie: One last question...

George: sigh.

Jamie: Ever since I upgraded to Office 2007, the Access databases I use don’t seem to work, what’s up?

George: Access 2007 has some stringent...

Jamie: Stringent?

George: Access 2007 has some rigorous...

Jamie: Rigorous?

George: Access 2007 has some rigid security features that we can’t suppress and, as a result, macros and other database functions are disabled when you open the database. 

Jamie: What's your advice on this one Mr. Savvy....

George: Look for a “security warning” bar near the top of database window and click on the Options button and then Enable.  The database will work fine for the rest of that session.  At this time we have not found a way to get around these security features, and it will happen each time you open a database.

Jamie: Database?

George: ....have you ever considered calling the Help Desk?

Jamie: Now, more than ever.

George: Sigh.

Jamie: Are you ready for the what?

George: What?

Jamie: What we are going to do first?

George: When?

Jamie: First.

George: What?

Jamie: That is what I want to tell you.

George: That took longer than it should have.

Jamie: Hopefully you won't say that when we are done with the first stage...

George: Which is?

Jamie: "The foundation stage"

George: I think my grandfather used to ride that....

Jamie: Sigh....We will be laying the foundation for the next clinical stages over the coming months

George: How will we do that?

Jamie: By converting our current billing, registration, ADT, scheduling (including surgery), general financials, human resources, payroll, materials management and emergency department tracking and triage to their counterpart systems in Epic and Lawson.

George: That sounds like a lot for a stage....

Jamie: We are making sure that we have enough input (100+ staff in addition to our Corporate Information Systems staff) to help this stage be successful.

George: How far along are we with Epic?

Jamie: We started Epic in January and we are aiming to be done with this stage next summer. How about with Lawson?

George: We had the formal project kickoff this week and we are headed for an October 1, 2009 go live.

Jamie: Let's talk about the major steps the next time we check in.

Jamie: George, we have been talking a lot recently about how we can improve our communication to the organization regarding our current and planned technology advances here at Community.

George: And that prompted the idea of starting a dialogue with staff using this "Tech Talk" blog.

Jamie: More and more Community initiatives that aim to improve customer service, quality of care, patient safety and overall performance have some aspect of information technology somewhere in the solution.

George: We in CIS realize that we exist to help the rest of the Community staff do what they do better than they could without us.

Jamie: I think I followed that....

George: So our Tech Talk blog will aim to address staff initiated questions that have a technology flavor to them, and also bring you regular updates on the current status reports for our Epic, Lawson and other major implementation projects that are underway

Jamie: In addition, we will post up answers to some of the most frequently asked questions of our top-notch help desk staff.

George: Sounds like a plan.

Jamie: So fire away with your questions!!! And we will provide answers and additional technology project commentary along the way.

(George Vasquez is the Chief Technology Officer for Community Medical Centers and Jamie Franklin is the Chief Project Management Officer. Along with Craig Castro, who serves as the CEO of Clovis as well as the Chief Information Officer for Community Medical Centers, George and Jamie provide the senior leadership for Community's information technology departments and major new information technology initiatives)