Nurse-driven initiative leveraged results from KLAS survey and MEDITECH expertise to drive EHR workflow improvements

Wooster Community Hospital Health System (Wooster, OH), an independent, nonprofit healthcare system, recently reported a projected annual savings of nearly 1,600 hours in documentation time and a reduction of more than 7.5 million clicks for its nursing staff. A new case study demonstrates how the health system collaborated with the KLAS Arch Collaborative and MEDITECH to leverage EHR personalization and workflow enhancements in Expanse, reengaging nurses in EHR governance and improving efficiency. Chief Information Officer Eric Gasser, BS, RN, CHCIO, will detail how his team achieved these results at MEDITECH LIVE, the EHR vendor’s leadership summit for healthcare executives, from September 17 to September 19.

After KLAS Arch Collaborative survey results indicated a post-pandemic decrease in nurses’ engagement, Wooster Community Hospital Health System launched the Free Up Nurses’ Time, or FUN Time, initiative. The effort empowered nurses to submit suggestions for workflow improvements, leveraging the Expanse EHR’s flexibility to solve documentation and charting challenges.

“The results of the FUN Time initiative have been remarkable — both in terms of operational outcomes and nursing engagement,” said Gasser. “We set out to reduce the documentation burden and streamline workflows, and the feedback from our frontline nurses allowed us to exceed every metric we set. This initiative proved how vital it is to involve nurses directly in system design and optimization.”

When Wooster Community Hospital Health System first administered the KLAS Arch Collaborative survey to its clinicians, results indicated that nursing engagement in software governance initiatives was waning. In response, the health system’s leaders turned their focus to reigniting nurses’ participation in solving documentation challenges.

“Empowering nurses is more important today than ever, so it’s imperative that they play a central role in EHR governance,” said MEDITECH Chief Marketing and Nursing Executive Cathy Turner, MBA, BSN, RN-BC. “Wooster Community Hospital Health System’s FUN Time initiative exemplifies this by integrating nurses’ perspectives directly into their workflow — a powerful driver of engagement and success.”

Gasser assembled a multidisciplinary team of clinical analysts, IT staff, and nurse representatives to reengage nurses by soliciting their input. The FUN Time initiative enabled nurses to submit suggestions for nursing workflow improvements. MEDITECH senior analysts collaborated with Wooster Community Hospital Health System’s IT team and KLAS representatives to review the health system’s nursing survey data and provide feedback on documentation efficiencies and user personalization.

Overall, Gasser’s team implemented 81 suggestions from nurses, resulting in a significant increase in user satisfaction. Wooster Community Hospital Health System’s follow-up survey, just nine months later, indicated that the nursing staff’s Net EHR Experience Score increased by 20%. In addition, FUN Time helped nursing EHR governance regain momentum through routine engagement and meetings, which has had a considerable impact on the health system.

“By engaging frontline nursing staff in the documentation and by listening to them, we’ve significantly impacted their perception of the EHR,” said Director of Nursing Operations and Special Projects Ryan McBeth, RN, of Wooster Community Hospital Health System.

Gasser stated that transitioning to Expanse and collaborating with MEDITECH and KLAS were major steps forward in optimizing nurses’ workflows. Personalization and other workflow improvements have reduced the burden on the health system’s nurses and enhanced their day-to-day experience.

“As an independent healthcare system, maintaining our autonomy is incredibly important, and having full control over our EHR is a key part of that,” said Gasser. “The flexibility of MEDITECH Expanse allows us to make meaningful changes that align with our goals, support our clinical teams, and improve overall usability.”

Gasser will provide more details about Wooster Community Hospital Health System’s FUN TIME initiative at a panel discussion on enhancing clinicians’ user satisfaction at MEDITECH LIVE on Wednesday, September 17. Read the case study for more information on the health system’s methodology and the results achieved through optimization.

About MEDITECH

MEDITECH empowers healthcare organizations to expand their vision of what’s possible with Expanse, the intelligent EHR platform you can trust. Expanse transforms care and ushers health systems of all sizes into the future with AI-infused solutions, personalized workflows, next-level interoperability, and predictive analytics — all working together to drive better outcomes. See why thousands of healthcare organizations in 29 countries and territories have chosen Expanse. Visit ehr.meditech.com and follow us on YouTube, LinkedIn, X/Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Threads.

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Wooster Community Hospital’s "Free Up Nurses’ Time" initiative reduced nurses’ documentation time by nearly 1,600 hours annually. #Nursing #Expanse #EHR @ MEDITECH