After years of counting down to implementation, MUSC's outpatient ambulatory Epic electronic medical record system went live in clinics across campus as well as in Carolina Family Care and other offsite clinics May 17.

The MUSC Epic leadership team concedes this transition is no easy task for anyone involved. In fact if it follows the path of similar implementations at peer institutions, it will take years of continuous optimization to take full advantage of this powerful tool. That said, the team reminds clinics experiencing the anticipated growing pains that the new system will ultimately prove to support MUSC's commitment to changing what's possible in health care.

The team's most relevant advice for go-live clinics right now? Be patient while working through the learning curve and know that there is a support team working in clinics and behind the scenes to get issues resolved as quickly as possible.

The MUSC Epic leadership team also recommends users contine rigorous chart abstraction and further refine clinic workflow. Important information will be posted and regularly updated at http://epic.musc.edu (select 'Go-Live Information').

Daily half-hour conference calls between the MUSC Epic leadership team and go-live clinics are designed to provide status updates to end-users and to give clinics an opportunity to communicate key issues of the day directly to the team.

Approximately 55 MUSC Epic technical support staff are stationed in the Epic Command Center. Initial hours of operation for the center are 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. The center will operate for at least two to three weeks after May 17.

For information, call 792-3742.