Overview
The Sisters of Mercy Health System (Mercy) has
launched the Genesis Project in response to compelling factors facing
the healthcare industry – ranging from consumer demand for enhanced patient
safety to the need to better share information across the continuum of
care. The Genesis Project will address these challenges by making fundamental
changes to core clinical and business work processes and information technology
used through the System. This three- to four-year project will involve
a dedicated Genesis Project team – working in collaboration with other
co-workers and physicians throughout Mercy – in designing, developing
and deploying process improvements, organizational changes and technology.
Ultimately, the goal of the Genesis Project is to ensure that every Mercy
patient receives the highest quality of care and service possible, and
that physicians and co-workers are equipped with the processes and tools
to ensure exceptional care and service. (back to top)
Four
Tracks
The Genesis Project is organized into four tracks,
and will involve redesigning and implementing new work processes and information
technology within these areas:
- Clinical – nursing, computerized
physician order entry, radiology, laboratory, pharmacy, emergency, surgery,
cardiology and ICU.
- Revenue – scheduling, admitting/registration,
charge capture/charge description master (CDM), medical records, billing
and account receivables.
- Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
– human resources, payroll, accounts payable, general accounting and
financial reporting.
- Supply Chain – purchasing
and management of supplies and equipment, including capital projects.
Information Services co-workers support each
of the four tracks. (back to top)
Future for Patients, Co-workers and
Physicians
With improved patient care and enhanced customer
service as the primary goals of the Genesis Project, new work processes
and systems will target key clinical and service areas. For example, clinical
systems will be designed with safety measures to prevent errors before
they ever happen. Information will flow throughout the clinical process,
improving communication among the healthcare team and eliminating time-consuming
and repetitive collection of patient data. Physicians, nurses and other
clinicians benefit from targeted and timely information at key decision
points along the path of diagnosis and treatment. Automating care processes
and providing reliable technology will give our clinical teams more time
for hands-on patient care and improve the quality of care. In addition
to clinical improvements, the Genesis Project will streamline business
operations for both customers and co-workers. From patient registration
and billing to charge capture and payroll, more efficient processes and
technology will allow co-workers to eliminate unnecessary, redundant tasks.
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Schedule
There are four phases to the Genesis Project,
which is scheduled for completion in 2007:
- Standards. Analysis of current processes at Mercy
hospitals and best practices across the industry to see what is working
today and determine the best course for the future.
- Design. Design and validate new processes, compare
them with the industry’s best practices, and integrate with Mercy software
applications.
- Initial deployment. New work processes and technology
will be implemented at St. John’s Mercy Health Care in St. Louis and
Washington, Missouri.
- Subsequent deployment. Processes and technology will
be sequentially deployed to other Mercy hospitals.
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Technology
The Genesis Project is designed to support Mercy
by building the best information system once, and then deploying that
system across the organization. Simplifying Mercy’s information technology
structure will allow co-workers to focus more on clinical and business
processes to improve care and service. Three software vendors have been
selected for the Genesis Project: Cerner for clinical systems, McKesson
for revenue systems, and Lawson for ERP and supply chain systems. Each
vendor was selected based on its integration capabilities and track record
within healthcare and other industries. (back to top)
Want more information?
Click here to read a special edition of Mercy newsletter
about the Genesis Project.
Click here to read a newspaper article from the St. Louis Business Journal
about the Genesis Project.
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