EMR Change Management

EMR Phase 2.1 forms part of the largest digital health project ever implemented by Western Health. It is visionary, comprehensive and innovative and will allow us to maximise the potential of our EMR. 

In addition to ensuring that the new EMR solutions and devices function as they should, the success of this implementation is reliant on Western Health staff becoming familiar and comfortable with the new workflows.   

Change Management activities for EMR Phase 2.1 have been designed to achieve the following goals:  

  • Staff feel supported by the EMR Project Team and tailored information is available at relevant intervals  
  • Staff are committed to the change and exhibit buy-in through their behaviours (behaviour change occurs)   
  • Staff understand the impact to them and their workflows before the training period commences (12 weeks prior to Go-Live)   
  • Adoption of the change occurs  

 Stakeholder mapping and engagement 

At the beginning of the project, the EMR Project Team completed extensive stakeholder mapping and engagement to ensure the right teams and individuals in the organisation were involved.  

 EMR Design Workshops and User Acceptance Testing 

Designing the new EMR modules involved 798 workshops over 1324 hours, and Western Health staff with subject matter expertise were involved in each workshop. In November 2022, Western Health clinical and administrative representatives joined the EMR Project Team to test the new functionality during User Acceptance Testing and provided clinical sign-off.  

 EMR Change Champion Network 

The EMR Change Champion Network was established in early 2022 to promote and encourage an understanding of the EMR Phase 2.1 change, and to embed advocates across the organisation. Change Champions attended monthly updates throughout 2022 and had the opportunity to ask questions and provide feedback to the EMR Project Team. 

Over 350 Western Health staff joined the Change Champion Network, and many Network members have now transitioned into the role of EMR Super Users.  

 Change Impact Assessments  

The project team for each of the six EMR Phase 2.1 key clinical areas have developed detailed documents showing current vs future state workflows, roles impacted and planned change activities. These documents are available for all staff to view here.  

 EMR Super Users 

Over 1,000 Western Health staff volunteered to become EMR Super Users. They received additional EMR training and have been supporting their colleagues as they become familiar with the new EMR Phase 2.1 workflows. To find out more about the EMR Super User program, please visit the Super User Page.   

Adoption and Optimisation 

Now that the majority of the EMR Phase 2.1 workflows are live, it is important that staff are supported by Super Users, their managers and the Digital Health team to become familiar with the new functionality and learn to get the most out of the EMR. In addition, the Digital Health Team will continue collaborating with divisional leadership to identify opportunities to improve the system through technical optimisations.