Getting a sneak peek of CareConnect

More than 100 future users get their first look at end-to-end workflows

About 130 faculty and staff members from throughout the UCLA Health System and David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA got their first glimpse of end-to-end workflows in action at CareConnect's Sneak Peek in February.

Nearly all attendees of the three-day event have been involved in the process of modifying the workflows to fit the needs of their departments over the past year -- in validation sessions and work group and advisory group meetings.

A full patient scenario was presented Feb. 14, to show what CareConnect will look like and how it will work in conjunction with other UCLA workflows. The main session and additional breakout sessions on Feb. 15 and Feb. 16, were held as another check that the design and build of CareConnect workflows are in line with decisions made during the validation process.

The main session focused on clinical and revenue cycle workflows for a hypothetical patient's ambulatory clinic visit and subsequent hospital admission. It involved interaction among multiple CareConnect applications for scheduling (Cadence); ambulatory check-in and encounter; managed care (Tapestry); hospital admission, discharge, and transfer (ADT); inpatient orders; and billing (Resolute). Nearly 30 members of CareConnect's ambulatory, inpatient, and revenue cycle teams were involved in demos to show how CareConnect functions.

"During validation sessions, we were looking at individual workflows showing very specific functionality for an application," said CareConnect Operational Readiness Manager Deidre Keeves. "At the sneak peek, we put the end-to-end workflows together for the first time -- a patient is scheduled, registered, sees a nurse, and a physician, is discharged, and is billed for the encounter -- to show how it all comes together."

The scenario followed patient "Bob Bruin" who made an appointment to be seen at a clinic for migraine headaches, following him through the clinic visit, admission to an emergency department, and inpatient admission to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, before he is discharged and sent a bill.

"Attendees seemed to be very excited about getting their first end-to-end look at CareConnect. We tried to use humor in the presentation that staff and faculty could relate to, so CareConnect would seem to be less intimidating as a computer system, and more user-friendly," Keeves said.

Cesar Esguerra, a nurse auditor with UCLA Health System's patient business services, attended the sneak peek because he was interested the impact that CareConnect will make on current evaluation and management (E&M) service processes. He has been involved in the workflow validation process over the past six months -- it's time he considers well spent.

"It's nice to be a part of what is being built today and know your input makes a difference," Esguerra said. "We have so many systems involved when we are handling a single account, and CareConnect will simplify and facilitate the record-keeping process. For E&M, all I have to do is look back and all the documentation is right there. We don't have to go to several different systems to find documentation. I think it will make us more efficient."

"To actually see the skits and watch a patient visit as it flows through the system, you are able to make sense of how it will all work in the end," said Rossana Parra, an administrative nurse from Santa Monica UCLA Medical Center and Orthopaedic Hospital. "You can see there is continuity, and it makes the system seem more user-friendly."

Breakout sessions offered a close look at specific workflows, including those for an inpatient admission for labor and delivery; perioperative services surrounding a patient's admission, anesthesia, surgery, and recovery; and adult and pediatric encounters at an ambulatory clinic.

The complex scenario for labor and delivery involved a pregnant woman who arrives at the hospital and is found to be in false labor. She goes home and when she returns to the hospital, she gives birth to twins. One baby was well and roomed with the mother, while the other was admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit.

"We selected that scenario for a breakout session because of the patient movement, and ADT workflows for that area are tricky compared to usual inpatient workflows. We wanted the end users from labor and delivery, the neonatal intensive care unit, admitting, and patient placement services to all take a close look at it, and tell us where we needed to make improvements," Keeves said.

Additional Sneak Peeks will be held monthly leading up to go-live, though future dates have yet to be announced. Check back on our Sneak Peek page for updates.

Click here to see a video of the CareConnect Sneak Peek - Ambulatory Clinic Encounter.

Click here to see a video of the CareConnect Sneak Peek - Inpatient Admission.

Questions or comments? Contact us by visiting the CareConnect website or send us an email at CareConnect@mednet.ucla.edu.

About 130 faculty and staff members attend the first CareConnect Sneak Peek in Tamkin Auditorium.	(From left to right) CareConnect team members John P. Smith, Jr., Isaac Lin, Deidre Keeves, and Long Quach present a demonstration of CareConnect workflows.
Ann S. Chang, chief information security officer, UCLA Health System and David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, (left) answers a security-related question posed by Diana McWaid-Harrah, assistant director of revenue cycle - revenue integrity, (not pictured).	Michy Greenberg, ADT/Prelude Prinicipal Trainer, (left) plays the role of a hospital billing customer service representative as Isaac Lin, a CareConnect project manager (right) plays the role of a patient who is requesting a change to his payment plan.
The Sneak Peek main session featured full patient scenarios, including an ambulatory encounter and inpatient admission.	Laxmi Kumar, application manager for Cadence, answers a question posed by Marti Arvin, chief compliance officer for the UCLA Health System and David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
Deborah Davis, assistant director, physician support services, asks a question following the ambulatory clinic encounter during the main session on Feb. 14.	Lorraine Malsbury, application coordinator, ADT/Prelude, walks through the patient placement portion of the integrated session in CareConnect.
John Luo, MD, (center) psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences, asks a question following the inpatient admission demo.	CareConnect team members introduce themselves following the conclusion of the Feb. 14 Sneak Peek. The three-day event involved nearly 30 members of CareConnect's ambulatory, inpatient, and revenue cycle build teams.