Studies have shown that EHR burdens have become a chief cause of provider burnout across the country. At Providence St. Joseph Health, feedback through various channels showed that providers feel burdened by the demands of the Electronic Health Record (EHR), noting that those responsibilities take time and focus away from patient care. Strengthening provider engagement is of utmost importance to our organization, and so leadership within Providence's Physician Enterprise authorized and funded a multi-year project to improve provider satisfaction and restore the joy of practicing medicine.

The EHR Optimization for Specialty project utilizes both Lean and Agile tools. We devote about 14 weeks of targeted discovery, design and build for each of 15 specialties. As we are about midway through the project, we will share details about our project, process, challenges and how we work to continually improve.

This presentation will include:

1. How we identify optimization opportunities for a large, complex organization through a variety of data gathering tools
2. Our use of Lean, Agile and other continuous improvement techniques to maximize productivity
3. The high value optimizations that have had the greatest positive impact for providers
4. Ways in which we educate and promote utilization of the tools and enhancements
5. Tools and metrics to confirm successful adoption and improved satisfaction for providers

Speakers

Grant Amouroux 

Sr. Clinical Informaticist, Providence St. Joseph Health

Grant Amouroux is a Sr. Clinical Informaticist working at Providence St. Joseph Health For the past 16 years. He has spent those years supporting various EHR systems - championing efficiency and usability of the available tools while sometimes fitting a square peg into a round hole. 

Grant is passionate about Informatics because he has been granted an opportunity to support and uplift his fellows from the universal leveler that is medical technology. 

He has been recognized in his field for his comprehensive clinical knowledge and willingness to go above his defined responsibilities to improve a user’s experience. 

In their spare time, Grant enjoys reading, cooking, and falling off paddle boards. He currently lives in Spokane, Washington with his wife of four years and canine companions.

James Campion  

Principal Program Manager, Providence St. Joseph Health

James Campion is a Principal Program Manager at Providence and oversees the Physician Enterprise Epic Specialty Optimization program. James has over 10 years’ experience in Epic development, clinical application project management, and workflow optimization. James is passionate about easing the way for providers and caregivers so that they can focus their time and energy on the needs of our patients. 

In his spare time, James enjoys touring the beautiful PNW with his motorcycle friends or working on house projects with his wife. James and his wife relocated from Boston, MA to Seattle, WA in 2015. They currently live in Mountlake Terrace, WA with their cat and dog.

Helene Crowfoot 

Principle IS Project Manager, Providence St. Joseph Health

With 25 years of experience in Information Technology, Helene Crowfoot joined Providence in 2018, her first venture into healthcare.  She is a Principle IS Project Manager supporting EHR Clinical Optimization and the Specialty Optimization Project.  As a PM, Helene enjoys building & working with project teams, problem-solving, continuous learning & improvement, and providing optimal solutions to end-users. 

She is a certified Project Management Professional and has an MBA from Washington State University.  Helene serves as a volunteer for the Puget Sound chapter of the Project Management Institute and the Seattle Section Chapter of the IEEE Technology & Engineering Management Society.

Helene and her husband are empty-nesters, living in Everett, WA with their pug/beagle mix, Satchel.

Nolan Finlay 

Sr. Program Manager, Physician Enterprise, Providence St. Joseph Health

Nolan Finlay is a Sr. Program Manager with Physician Enterprise currently working on the Epic Optimization for Specialty project. He joined Providence in October of 2021, transferring from Swedish where he most recently worked as a Senior Workflow Specialist and Manager of Ambulatory Centralized Services. In his 14-year career in Healthcare, Nolan has been driven by his passion for process improvement that serves to drive clinical efficiencies, support caregivers, and improve patient outcomes.

In his spare time, Nolan enjoys working out, being active outdoors, and spending time with friends and family. He currently splits his time between Seattle and Palm Springs with his husband and two French Bulldogs.

Cindy Geiger 

Director, Physician Enterprise, Providence St. Joseph Health

Cindy Geiger is a Director with Physician Enterprise currently working on the Epic Optimization for Specialty project. She re-joined Providence in May of 2014, joining PE Operations in August 2021 from Quality where she most recently worked as a Manager in Quality Informatics. In over 20 years of working in Healthcare, Cindy has been driven to improve the medical record workflow for providers and optimizing quality care and outcomes for patients.

Cindy graduated with a bachelor's degree in Biology from Pacific Lutheran University in 2001 and MBA from Concordia University in 2008.

In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her 9-year-old son (usually on the baseball field), 1-year-old Goldendoodles, traveling, and reading. She resides in Portland, Oregon.

Bradford Hall 

Senior Project Manager, Physician Enterprise, Providence St. Joseph Health

Bradford Hall is a Senior Project Manager with the Physician Enterprise Epic Optimization for Specialty project. After spending much of his healthcare career as a clinician in hospitals and clinics, he began working with EHRs nearly 20 years ago, leading the first Federally funded implementation for the State of Oregon (The DOQ-IT Project).  More recently, Brad completed a national rollout of a charge capture mobile application, implementing 170 practices and more than 3,500 providers within 60 days.

He currently manages IT implementations/optimizations with health systems throughout the country, demonstrating his knowledge and experience in HIT, change management, quality improvement, performance analysis, and driving strategy.

Brad has a BA in Psychology from the University of Nebraska, an MA in Education from the University of Colorado, and a Certificate in Informatics from the University of Illinois.

Brad lives with his wife in Portland, Oregon, and Seal Beach, California.

Allison (Allie) Keyser, CMA 

Lead Clinical Informatics Specialist, Physician Enterprise (Ambulatory), Providence St. Joseph Health

Allie Keyser, CMA, is a Lead Clinical Informatics Specialist for Providence Physician Enterprise (Ambulatory). 

Allie graduated with her AAS in Health Care (Medical Assisting) in 2008 where she then took a position with her externship at Swedish.  She worked as a MA at Queen Anne Primary Care for 11 years, assisting pediatric, adult and dermatology providers. 

Allie transitioned to Clinical Informatics in 2019 where she worked at the regional level supporting primary care and specialty clinics.  Allie is currently a Product Owner for the PE Optimization for Specialty project.

Megan McGowan 

Senior Clinical Informaticist, Providence St. Joseph Health

Megan McGowan has worked at Providence for 21 years in many areas including lab, sales, client services, clinic supervising, and clinical informatics.  She has been with Ambulatory Clinical Informatics for 7 years, 5 of those as a Senior Clinical Informaticist.

Megan has a BS in Information Technology and is currently in grad school for a Masters in Cybersecurity specializing in Network Defense and Healthcare Security.

Megan has lived in Portland, OR for the last 12 years, and has a rescue Tibetan Spaniel pup named Finley.  She loves to travel to new places and is excited to start exploring again.