Southwestern Medical Center

Physician Advisory Group Provides Guidance

Clinical Transformation Journey Now Fully In Progress

Capella Healthcare has embarked on a clinical transformation that will convert all hospitals’ core clinical systems to Meditech 6. The ACES – or Advanced Clinical Electronic System – project officially launched in June with the first meeting of the Physician Advisory Group (PAG).

David Siepmann, M.D., is chairing the Physician Advisory Group (PAG) which provides overall guidance for the implementation of new clinical IT initiatives. A Dartmouth-trained radiologist who practices at Capella’s Willamette Valley Medical Center in Oregon, Dr. Siepmann say he spends his life interacting with a number of computer systems and is excited the role of the PAG.

“It’s an exciting thing. We have physicians representing a broad group of specialties throughout Capella who are really helping guide the implementation of this dramatic change in how we all do business,” he said. “There are external reasons to do it, such as government mandates, but fundamentally the reason I’m so committed to it is that these computer systems have the potential to truly improve the way we take care of patients. They can help us prevent errors, give us information there’s no way we could remember at the time, and help coordinate care between providers. But it takes a lot of work to get things set up the correct way. The role of the Physician Advisory Group is to exploit the range of experiences from physicians who are equally passionate about providing quality patient care and how computers can help.”

Al Smith, Capella’s Chief Information Officer, is directing the project. “Over the next few years, all of our facilities will make this journey in order to provide a long-term Information Systems foundation to support our clinicians and clinical departments, meet continuing government mandates and engage our physicians in reducing variability to provide the highest quality and safest experience in our hospitals,” he said. “Eight hospitals are currently engaged in developing our best practice enterprise system design with plans for our first facility to go live during the summer of 2012.”

The initial scope of the project includes Registration, Medical Records, Nursing, ER department, Pharmacy, Lab, Radiology, Ancillaries, Quality, Risk Management, Utilization Review, Reporting, Order Entry, Physician Order Entry (CPOE) and Physician Documentation.

Physician Advisory Group (PAG)

Ten physicians have been appointed to serve on the PAG, which will provide guidance for implementation of Capella Healthcare’s new clinical IT initiatives. The project launched when the group met to review the new Meditech 6.0 platform and EHR development.

PAG Members

Robert Collins, M.D., Orthopedic Surgeon, Grandview Medical Center
Krista Gordon, M.D., Family Medicine, Southwestern Medical Center
Kevin Hale, M.D., Family Medicine, National Park Medical Center
Kari Kubik, M.D., Urogynecology, Parkway Medical Center
Brad McIntosh, M.D., Family Medicine, Muskogee Regional Medical Center
Carl Ott, M.D., Hospitalist, Capital Medical Center
Kyle Shaver, M.D., Emergency Medicine, Willamette Valley Medical Center
David Siepmann, M.D., Radiology, Willamette Valley Medical Center
Todd Stewart, M.D., Family Medicine, River Park Hospital
Erik Swensson, M.D., General Surgeon, Capella Healthcare, CMO
David Tollefson, M.D., Vascular Surgery, Capital Medical Center
Richard Young, M.D., Emergency Medicine, Saint Mary’s Regional Medical Center

Monthly webinars are being held to solicit continued input from physicians. To provide input or attend the monthly updates, physicians should contact their hospital’s CEO or PAG representative.

Clinical Connections Newsletter

Want to learn more about issues of interest to physicians? Read Clinical Connections, a bi-monthly newsletter from Capella’s CMO, Dr. Erik Swensson, written specifically for medical staff members at Capella’s family of hospitals.