St. Luke’s Hospital
Working closely with vendor and client, our experts guided a complex Cerner Revenue Cycle and Ambulatory implementation to a successful conclusion.
Challenges
In 2017, Missouri-based St. Luke’s Hospital began a project across its network of care to consolidate on Cerner Revenue Cycle and Ambulatory solutions.
From the outset, Cerner Corporation worked closely with St. Luke’s leadership to execute an ambitious project plan, but delays and resource constraints put the implementation at risk.
St. Luke’s and Cerner mutually agreed that experienced, outside project leadership was required to restore confidence and put the implementation back on track.
Solution
The Cerner practice at Healthcare IT Leaders assigned one its most seasoned consultants to the St. Luke’s project. With over 20+ years of direct experience as an engagement lead for Cerner Corporation, our resource provided understanding of Cerner project management methodology and deep knowledge of the solutions being implemented.
Communication and transparency are critical on large projects. Our PM introduced new reporting tools and restructured meetings, accelerating progress by focusing on resolution of the most critical issues.
As collaboration improved, teams were better able to identify risks in advance and mitigate those risks to keep the project moving forward.
Providing Skilled Resources
In addition to project management, Healthcare IT Leaders supported St. Luke’s through expert staff augmentation.
Our recruiters assisted the hospital in identifying and hiring critical contract resources knowledgeable in Cerner Ambulatory, Charge Services, Patient Accounting and Financial Workflow. At launch, we provided several Go Live support resources to coach end users at multiple clinic sites.
Results
A complex implementation, initially marked by delays and client frustration, was brought to a successful conclusion by the Cerner practice at Healthcare IT Leaders
- Our PM resource acted as an experienced facilitator between vendor and client, improving collaboration and establishing trust and confidence
- Our focus on high-impact issue resolution moved key deliverables forward, reducing costly delays
- All St Luke’s sites are live on Cerner Ambulatory and Revenue Cycle, providing a more consistent, end-to-end solution throughout the health system
- Revenue Cycle workflow changes have reduced manual charging at several clinics
St. Luke’s Hospital (Chesterfield, MO) is a non-profit network of care made up of two hospitals (493-bed St. Luke’s and 143-bed Des Peres) and over 45 clinics serving Greater St. Louis
- 4,600 employees and over 1,000 affiliated physicians
- 20,000 inpatient and observation patients and 100,000 urgent care center visits annually
- Named one of the 2019 America’s 50 Best Hospitals for Cardiac Surgery by Healthgrades
Project Details
- Cerner Ambulatory implementation (replacing eClinicalWorks) and Revenue Cycle implementation (replacing McKesson Star), including Registration, Scheduling, Medical Records and Patient Billing
- Data migration from legacy systems
- Integration of multiple third-party solutions
- Build and test of new interfaces
- Project Management utilizing Cerner Framework methodology
“Healthcare IT Leaders was instrumental in our success.”Bill Meyer, CIO
St. Luke’s Hospital