Jamie: The last time we spoke about Lawson, you said that you would keep me posted on the Advisory group activity. Any updates?

George:  As a matter of fact, I do have an update. As you may recall, the Advisory groups last met over the summer to discuss reporting and business process needs.  Since those initial meetings, the members of the functional project teams have participated in extensive Lawson application training in preparation for the design activity.

Jamie: Design activity? That sounds like a lot of very complex work. 

George: It is a lot of very complex work to ensure the business needs are being met.  It is during the design activity, that many of the business process and reporting decisions will be made. This is the perfect time to re-engage the Advisory groups as they are a primary source of day-to-day operational input, to ensure that the application design, including the business process decisions, are in alignment with the operational needs of the organization. Each of the Advisory groups is meeting this month and going forward, will continue to meet monthly.

Jamie:  Wow! How long is the design activity expected to last? I can only imagine that there will be a lot of changes to current processes. How will we ever train everyone who needs to be trained on the new application and business processes?

George: Well, you are just full of questions today.  Good questions, just a lot of them.

Jamie: I just like to be well informed.

George: Nothing wrong with that. I like to keep you informed. So, to answer your first question, the design activity is underway and will continue through the next several months. With regards to the second question, role-specific end-user training, focused on the application and business processes, will be conducted during the months of August and September of 2009.

Jamie: Well, these are indeed exciting times; can’t wait to hear more.

George: I will definitely keep you posted as the project team progresses through the design activity.

Jamie: Thanks, I appreciate the communication and your desire to keep me in the loop.

George: This is no easy task...

Jamie: I heard that.....

Jamie - Help!  I have a presentation to give next week, but I need to borrow a laptop and a projector!  Can I use yours?

George - Remember how you returned my laptop and projector the last time you borrowed them?

Jamie - They weren't in good working order? 

George-  My first clue there was a problem is when I saw the projector bulb duct-taped to the laptop keyboard.

Jamie - First clue? What was the second? 

George- When I saw that you had taped your password to the laptop screen.

Jamie- Maybe you loaned it to someone else? 

George Have you considered using one of CIS' loaners?

Jamie - We have loaners?  The heck you say!

George - Yes, we sure do, for just this kind of need....as long as you treat the equipment as well as you would if it were your own. (George quietly imagines how Jamie would actually treat his own equipment....)

Jamie - Perfect!  How do I reserve one?

George - All you need to do is send an email request to the Help Desk (customersupport@communitymedical.org) with the following information at least 2 business days in advance of your presentation:

• The date(s) that you'll need the equipment
• What equipment you need to borrow (ie laptop only, laptop and proxima, conference phone, etc)
• Any special needs, such as special applications you need for the presentation
• If you need these items delivered to your location (if possible we ask that you come to CIS to pick them up)

Jamie - That seems pretty easy.  Can I also request a roll of duct tape?

George - Sigh.

George- "Now that we are in the middle of testing the new Epic system with our subject matter experts, how long will it be before all staff can see Epic in action?"

Jamie: "Not long"

George: "What does that mean?"

Jamie: "Soon."

George: Grrrrrrrr..."How soon is soon"

Jamie: "Now."

George: "Why didn't you just say that earlier?"

Jamie: If I had said "Now" at the start it wouldn't have been very entertaining.

George: Sigh...How do I see it?

Jamie: Go to Community Forum....click on Learning Opportunities and Epic Training Portal. You will have access to training modules that give an overview of model Epic builds for some of the modules we will be bringing live in our first stage next summer. These are not Community's final versions but they will give you an idea of what we will be using...soon.

George: Thanks for the information (finally)

Jamie: Later.

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!)