MADIGAN ARMY MEDICAL CENTER, Tacoma, Wash. -- Madigan Army Medical Center staff members sharpened their MHS GENESIS skills at an all-day training event Nov. 9.
"The purpose of our stand-down day is to get a shared understanding of the capabilities of MHS GENESIS," said Madigan Chief Nursing Informatics Officer Lt. Col. Ramona Decker, who elaborated that the event allowed staff to share best practices, to learn new workflows and to improve upon their skills in using the system. "You have to give people time for improvement."
Decker said the training day planners decided to focus on areas that staff access most often or that can have significant impacts when used.
"For example, we can tell how often a provider uses favorites versus searching for an order versus quick orders. We see that we spend 51 percent of our time searching for orders instead of using favorites," she said. "Part of the training day is to provide time to learn how you can use favorites, show people where the validated favorites are and give them the time to copy them."
Although used less often, blood administration was taught in both all-staff sessions since it is both a high-risk and new process.
"Everything about how we order and administer and transfuse blood is different so even if you do it infrequently but incorrectly, it's a big deal," Decker said.
When not in the all-staff plenary sessions, departments and clinics conducted their area-specific training. In Internal Medicine, nurses, providers and residents received training on favorites and clinic-specific workflows as well as how to better submit orders for pharmacy, lab and radiology, said the clinic's administrative officer, Jennifer Guse. They also took the time to review booking, scheduling issues, insurance and tip sheets.
Some functional areas, such as administrative officers and medical support assistants, took part in career field-specific training.
"I learned some very helpful tips that I didn't know, which really made it for me, and I had the chance to ask some subject matter experts various questions and hear from other MSAs the kinds of experiences and problems they're having," said Brant Geisler, an MSA with Internal Medicine who attended the MSA University session. "I think it was very worthwhile."
With a day-long training attended by staff throughout the hospital, the hope is that patients will ultimately benefit. Patients might find their referrals are booked sooner, for instance, said Decker.
After the training, the informatics team will assess metrics to see if key focus areas improve, such as an increased use of favorites and faster referral processing, she said.
Decker encouraged staff to also remain engaged in continual learning, especially since there can be up to 20 system changes in MHS GENESIS each week.
"It's continually improving, and so you have to take time to read the tip sheets and read the updates," she said.
The updates are shared weekly with the Informatics Steering Board, which includes representatives from all of the functional areas.
Beyond knowing what's changed, end users can also help identify suggested enhancements to MHS GENESIS by engaging with their respective subject matter experts and super users through the ISB and its associated multidisciplinary working groups.
"It shouldn't be just how is this going to affect me; it's how is it going to affect everyone else who touches the patient," said Decker. "Be curious on how else can this be improved and then suggest improvements."
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