A Service-minded Approach

At Peer Consulting, we promote collaboration and communication within the IT team, and with clinicians, department leaders, executives and the end-user community. We also pay special attention to the cultural and organizational differences between clients and vendors to ensure smooth interaction throughout the implementation process.

Peer Consulting services can be tailored to meet the specific needs of your organization. Large or small, simple or complex, we will work closely with you to define your project’s objectives and identify the resources necessary to achieve the desired results.

Implementing a healthcare information system has significant impacts across your organization. You need strong leadership to champion the project across disciplines, and prepare clinicians and staff for a successful deployment.

• Perform IT industry research and strategic planning to set a solid foundation for your project
• Ensure that your IT strategy supports evolving federal standards
• Lead the system selection process and manage vendor contract negotiations
• Help you prepare for workflow changes, guiding change management initiatives in clinical, administrative and revenue cycle departments
• Share product knowledge and leadership expertise
• Understand team roles and dynamics, enabling clear communication with everyone on your IT team – from the CIO to the application analyst
• Act as an intermediary with your software suppliers, ensuring appropriate support
• Assure that your project stays on course with organizational expectations and advances clinical and business goals

Regional Extension Centers (REC)

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) presents significant opportunities for hospitals and healthcare providers not only with incentive funding for IT, but also to truly achieve dramatic improvements in patient care safety and quality. Peer Consulting guides clients in preparing for and realizing the opportunities of Meaningful Use (MU), while planning strategically and sustainably for the future.

Our services include:

• Rapid Operations Assessment and MU / IT Alignment Roadmap

  We will develop a patient care operations plan to ensure that performance improvement goals and strategies are aligned with your IT deployment schedule and MU incentive funding plan.

• Meaningful Use, Legal Health Record,
  & ARRA Education Session (s)

  Our Peer Consultants are current with ARRA laws, rules and regulations making them the HITECH, HIPAA privacy & MU experts for EHR incentive dollars. Our customized education sessions are designed to ensure that your executives and management have the knowledge and information necessary to successfully execute the MU and HITECH Strategies.

• MU Attestation Plan and Product Certification

  We will determine a plan for certification and testing of any EHR modules, including functionality, technology integration, data exchange, reporting of quality measures, immunizations, surveillance, as well as production of electronic copies of patient medical records.

• Application Implementation Support

  Throughout the execution of the MU plan, many of our clients find that additional resources and/or skilled technical staff are needed to assist with the implementation of the products and versions / releases that comprise the EHR Modules. These activities may also occur in parallel with certification testing and submission for ‘Certified EHR’ approval.

• MU Reporting Period Support and Attestation Application

  We can provide project management and operations guidance for the relevant reporting period of Meaningful Use. Peer Consulting staff can assist throughout the entire process including interfacing with appropriate governmental agencies (both Federal and State).

• Regional Extension Center (REC) Services

  Our REC services include planning, management, and optimization of your transition to electronic records, with an ultimate eye toward participation in Health Information Exchanges. We are distinguished by a multi-disciplinary team of highly experienced, senior consultants who understand that this is a significant effort for clinicians. We will work closely with your team to help ensure that your practice is maximizing the use of your EHR and well positioned for Meaningful Use incentive funding. Please download more information on our REC services.

Successful implementation of Clinical Provider Order Entry (CPOE) is a fundamental measure of success for meeting the requirements of ARRA and Meaningful Use. Our experienced physician and technology leaders have developed a comprehensive methodology based on four key initiatives managed in concert to help organizations achieve successful CPOE implementation.

• Charter, launch and coach transformative teams including an executive steering group and physicians, nurses and allied health professionals who can actively engage colleagues
• Create a knowledge management strategy and team, ensuring that your organization systematically deploys and updates evidence-based guidelines within your clinical care
• Redesign workflow, enabling a smooth transition from current to information-supported future workflow, including contingency planning
• Strategically guide your IT implementation project, focusing on clinician involvement and design-build of order sets

Peer Consulting understands the many cultural, clinical and technical nuances that result in an effective CPOE implementation. We have extensive experience in coaching physicians and other influential clinician leaders to champion change. We partner with you to ensure that your organization fully deploys CPOE, reaching new levels of patient safety, shared knowledge and quality of care.

Peer consultants share their expertise throughout the implementation process to ensure your staff has the proficiencies to complete your project on time and on budget, and to support your system in the future. Our custom-built implementation tools automate key implementation tasks, resulting in a more efficient utilization of your resources.

• Gap analysis to define a path between current and future workflow and system design to meet clinical and business needs
• System design and build, including customized screen and master file development, report development, and system parameter definition
• Integrated testing design and management
• Troubleshooting
• Vendor issue management
• Training plan development and rollout
• Activation planning and support
• Post-activation reviews and audits
• Utilization and staff training of best practices/methodologies

Peer Consulting provides project leadership for the implementation of departmental applications or full enterprise-wide systems. From conception to completion, our strong project management skills help assure a streamlined, timely, cost-effective implementation.

• Strategic and operational IT planning
• Comprehensive project management and oversight
• End-to-end system implementation, including integration with existing systems and interface development
• Development and delivery of technical and application training
• Activation planning and execution