By: Stephanie Dremel
On December 6, 2021, Petersburg Medical Center (PMC) went live with its Electronic Health Record and financial system. Yellow Brick was contracted in January 2021 to provide project management and clinical informatics consultative services to PMC for the concurrent implementation of these systems. Yellow Brick Project Manager for Petersburg Medical Center, Stephanie Dremel, began work with the EHR Project Implementation team to develop a project plan that suited the organization’s unique needs. Stephanie’s key project responsibilities included project management, event planning and coordination, learning coordination, and support of clinical workflows.
Although every EHR implementation and digital transformation is unique, Stephanie recognized two differentiators that were stood out to her through her tenure at PMC. “The “Big Bang” go-live approach involved multiple concurrent implementations, various vendors, software platforms, learning plans, and project plans which made this project more complex than a single conversion,” shared Stephanie. “Second, PMC is vital to the wellness of the Petersburg community as the sole medical center on the island. Therefore, the facility’s approach to the project is always through the lens of providing optimal healthcare to the community.”
A key performance driver to ensure the success of Go-Live was to identify and engage superusers, trainers, and key stakeholders in the project. Stakeholders must be identified early on and reevaluated often, as they should be involved in decision-making as much as possible. The utilization of in-person integration testing events revitalized the energy and excitement surrounding the conversion to the new systems.
With the project’s culmination this week, Stephanie reflects on her time within the PMC time as treasured. “I have spent a lot of time in Petersburg this year and have become familiar with the town and community. I will be sad to leave a place that has been like a home away from home to me. Petersburg is a place where it is normal for someone to recognize me and say hello in the airport every time I arrive or leave, and that’s special.”
Yellow Brick is honored to have been selected by Petersburg Medical Center for this project and recognizes the EHR implementation projects lasting positive impacts to the Petersburg, Alaska community. Our team looks forward to future collaborations.
