Simple is Better

• Test Out Options for Mandatory Research Trainings; Test out option implemented for TC1455, Refresher FCOI Training for PHS Researcher training. Individuals will be automatically redirected to course if test is unsuccessful. All other additional courses previously identified for test out option will not be possible due to guidance from EH&S. 
• VP&S People Development Center; For more information on learning and development course offerings and links to registration, please reference the Spring Course Brochure.
• Microsoft Outlook Training, Tips & Resources; 
  • Enterprise Learning Management and LinkedIn Learning sites offer resources for skills development   
  • CUIMC IT resource page for support on technical questions/concerns related to CUIMC email and Outlook.
• Box File Sharing; Cloud based services for file sharing is available for CUIMC users for secure sharing of FERPA, PHI, PII, and RHI. Solution is HIPAA-compliant, and provides data encryption in-transit as well as at-rest​, as well as full audit trials. Please note, accounts created outside of CUIMC Box enterprise are not approved for use with institutional data.  
  • Box account requests can be submitted via departmental IT support staff using the IT Staff Service Catalog in ServiceNow.
  • For additional details including an FAQ, please visit this link.
• New Dining Options at CUIMC; 
  • Milstein Hospital; New food options including expanded breakfast and lunch options (including 60+ new hot menu items), expanded grab & go options, upgrade coffee offerings, and made-to-order salad station slated to launch 2024.
  • Faculty Club; Will soon resume in-person reservation dining for pre-fixe lunch service for 1-4 people (timeline TBD).
• Patient Appointment Cancellations; Epic is unable to send automatic notifications to providers. However, users can view the NYC Canceled or No Showed Appts - Past Month report to view next day cancellations. 
• Cincinnati Children’s Laboratories Separate Requisition is No Longer Required; The Cincinnati Children's (CC) laboratories have agreed that NYP can send a reprint of our Epic order requisition (for all CC lab orders) rather than having our providers fill out and sign a separate CC requisition (with the exception of tests ordered for the CC Mass Spectrometry Laboratory (urine/serum bile acids) – which is very rare). The new process is effective immediately at all NYP campuses that send samples to Cincinnati Children’s.
• CWID Access; New worklow has been implemented which allows designated Columbia users to submit NYP CWID requests via ServiceNow. For more information, please contact the CUIMC IT Service Desk at 212-305-4357 option 5 or 5help@cumc.columbia.edu

• CU Marketplace; Efforts launched by the Columbia Finance team to enhance the procurement process and experience. For more information, please visit the Columbia Finance website for highlights on benefits, tips and training materials and demos.

For more information regarding any of these initiatives, please contact us at well-being@cumc.columbia.edu. 

Key Initiatives developed by Subcommittee Workgroups:

Improving Communications: 

• Monthly Provider Digest (to ACE, Clinical Leads, Epic Experts and DAs) with one key update
• Enhanced collaboration between NYP and CUIMC IT for improved technology support
• Best practices on requesting Epic changes 
  • Epic login or hardware issues - Call the help desk (212) 305-4357
  • Check status of tickets in the NYP and CUIMC portal
  • For any issues IN Epic – use the Epic help button

Reducing InBasket Burden: 

• In Basket Optimization Workgroup goals;
  • Suppress duplicative messages
  • Set expiration dates on high-volume informational message types (10 total)
  • Reimbursement and wRVU credit for Patient Medical Advice Messaging ~end of Q1 2024
• In Basket/Secure Chat Optimization Starter Kit
  • Best practices/recommendations
  • Example workflows and configuration based on workforce
  • Steps to add or remove pools
  • Example workflows and configuration based on workforce
  • Integrating Performance Improvement methodology for In Basket maintenance
  • Piloting in Otology with Dr. Kim and Neurology with Dr. Roberts

Improving Care Team Efficiency: 

• Care Teams Census and Signal Analysis;
  • Support staff documentation workflows (ex. vitals, allergies, pending orders, queueing up note templates)
  • Signal recommendations based on averages among Epic specialties
  • Piloting in Internal Medicine
  • Piloting Nursing Workflow Expansions in Primary Care
• Epic Data Utilization (ex. Care Teams Census, Signal)
• Establishing collaboration with compliance
  • Library of resources and specialty contacts for billing/documentation
• Personalization Sessions/Dictation Training Sessions
  • Book and online Epic Personalization Visit here
  • For Voice Recognition training, email NYP Service Desk servicedesk@nyp.org (to open a ticket) and MModalTeam MModalTeam@nyp.org (to schedule a session)
• Epic Data Literacy Program
  • Led by EpicTogether Training team (coming soon)

CLG: Dr. Rachel Lewis is collaborating with specialty CLG leadership to develop best practices for utilizing the CLG to effectively make clinical content changes in Epic.

Status: On Track

OR Efficiency - Consents

• Working with NYP on policy revisions to clarify ability to capture consent prior to day of procedure
• Teams of investigators have been conducting site visits and surveys on hospital and outpatient consent capture workflows to better understand challenges/barriers
• While we mitigate same day consent signature barriers, we are working to maximize consents captured prior to day of surgery via the patient portal
• For a guide on how send consents to the patient via Connect, please reference page 8 on the All Providers-Electronic Consents tipsheet.

Status: On Track

• Ongoing collaboration with NYP IT and ACE to identify the precise locations experiencing technology issues so that IT can make in-person diagnostic visits to each area.  These in-person visits allow IT and the clinical teams to align on the problem before IT identifies a solution.  
• IT rolled out a new virtual desktop infrastructure and continues to search for ways to improve computer speed and efficiency.  
• A Microsoft Surface based workaround has been developed for dysfunctional Topaz signing pads.  Training resources and on-site engineering support have been provided to inquiring providers.

Project team is actively brainstorming methods to collect user feedback on improvements: QR surveys, kiosks, etc.

Objective: Assessment of weekly inpatient report which generates extremely high false positive rates.

Status: On Hold

Latest Update: Peds team is engaging with staff to prepare an audit of frequent flyer note types which may be causing issues. The team will be reviewing the most problematic note types and determining/documenting the necessary training for providers.

• Automatically Assign Referrals to Appointments As They Are Scheduled; Some referrals will get automatically linked to appointments if they meet certain matching criteria. Those referrals will automatically be marked as “scheduled” and will fall off the referral scheduling workqueue.
  • Logic for all entities:
    • If the Referral “Referred to Provider” is the same as the Appointment Provider, then we will link the referral to the scheduled appointment.
    • For WCM, CUIMC, ACN East, ACN West, and ACN Queens, we have additional additive criteria:
      •  If the Referral is for “Amb Referral to Adult Primary Care” and the appointment department specialty is “Internal Medicine” then we will link the referral to the scheduled appointment.
      • If the Referral is for “Amb Referral to Pediatric Primary Care” and the appointment department specialty is “Pediatrics” then we will link the referral to the scheduled appointment.
      • This will only happen in some very specific cases (below), so schedulers still need to perform the proper scheduling workflows using the “assign” button from a referral scheduling workqueue and/or checking the referrals tab of appointment desk after they schedule an appointment manually through “book it.”
  • Exceptions:
    • We will only link a referral to an appointment automatically for certain new and follow-up visit types. Please reach out to Epic support if you would like to see this full list.
    • We will never automatically link referrals if they are Urgent or Emergency priority.
    • We will only automatically link referrals that were created after this auto-linking development goes live(after September 30th)
    • We will never automatically link a referral if the referring provider is the same as the appointment provider(self-referral)
    • We will never automatically link a referral to an appointment with the department specialty of Dental, Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, or Speech Language Pathology
  • For further assistance, please submit a message to Epic Application Support directly by clicking on the “Epic Help” button within Epic itself, email epictogethersupport@nyp.org, or call your institutional Service Desk.
• Patient Appointment Cancellations; Epic is unable to send automatic notifications to providers. However, users can view the NYC Canceled or No Showed Appts - Past Month report to view next day cancellations. 
• Cincinnati Children’s Laboratories Separate Requisition is No Longer Required; The Cincinnati Children's (CC) laboratories have agreed that NYP can send a reprint of our Epic order requisition (for all CC lab orders) rather than having our providers fill out and sign a separate CC requisition (with the exception of tests ordered for the CC Mass Spectrometry Laboratory (urine/serum bile acids) – which is very rare). The new process is effective immediately at all NYP campuses that send samples to Cincinnati Children’s.
• CWID Access; New worklow has been implemented which allows designated Columbia users to submit NYP CWID requests via ServiceNow. For more information, please contact the CUIMC IT Service Desk at 212-305-4357 option 5 or 5help@cumc.columbia.edu
• Capture consent and track eligible patients for research in Epic; We are piloting a workflow in Epic to capture a Consent to Contact form in the Connect patient portal where patients could consent to be contacted for research in the future. If there is a researcher who would like to use this recruitment mechanism, they should contact CTOinformation@columbia.edu to go over the recruitment procedures and approvals.
• Epic User Access; Simplyified Epic access for users with multiple job functions by merging several Epic roles into one context. This enhancment will create an easy access and avoid users having to toggle between assigned roles. If you would like to reconfigure your access please place a Service Now ticket here.
• OR Surgical Paperwork Optimization; Team developed a tipsheet for PPST workflow which outlines steps for uploading and linking PPST form into patient's chart. New workflow communication was dissemenated and re-training was provided for providers and staff. Department was provided with reporting tool which could be used to monitor PPST workflow completion.
• Clinical Trials Epic Reports; Team identified research specific tools in Epic which address reporting concerns. Team has been trained on functionality and team is working with the training team to develop a continuous training schedule for ongoing/future support.
• Outpatient Missing Charges Reports; Upon site observations/assessments, team identified large volume of false positives was due to a workflow issue. Shared services team conducted an inhouse training for the echo workflow for all department providers and reconfigured their views in Epic so they are able to complete their consult and exam without switching context. False positive issue has been resolved and team is working with department leadership to expand workflow training to additional MSCHONY providers.
• External Image Transfer; Electronic transfer/receipt of electronic images from external institutions feature is available via Ambra platform. 
• Epic Media Section; Epic team built the 'clinical documents only' filter in the Media tab and it is now active in the production environment.
• Filtering Scanned Documents; Feature to filter scanned documents by specialty is now available in production environment.

Objective:  Improve and modernize campus signage for CUIMC

Status: On Track

Latest Update: Assessments conducted and initial proposal has been drafted. Project team is currently exploring additional opportunities for signage improvements and modernization in collaboration with potential vendors. 

Objective:  Reopen driveway access for patients at the Vanderbilt Building. 

Status: On Track

Latest Update: Efforts re-opened and project is being revisited by stakeholders and project team. Assessments have been conducted and initial proposal has been drafted. Project team is currently exploring additional driveway components and conducting additional discovery work.

• New Physician's Lounge is now open in Milstein 1st floor
• Family Space Options;
  • ICUs 4ht floor - Expanded space options for family meetings
  • 9th floor Atrium - Waiting space and new furniture in Milstein lobby will be further expanding capacity 
  • 4th floor NICU -  Waiting area is temporarily closed off due to construction and will be reopened when locker room renovations are completed
• New Dining Options at CUIMC; 
  • Milstein Hospital; New food options including expanded breakfast and lunch options (including 60+ new hot menu items), expanded grab & go options, upgrade coffee offerings, and made-to-order salad station slated to launch 2024.
  • Faculty Club; Will soon resume in-person reservation dining for pre-fixe lunch service for 1-4 people (timeline TBD).
• Mail Meter Request Form: A digitized version of the mail in form has been created and can be completed online at the Columbia Mail website. The Facilities Management team is also currently exploring the automation of the Central Mailroom in order to further optimize processes. For more information, please contact Damaris Brito; db3384@cumc.columbia.edu.
• Environmental Services; Targeted housekeeping, waste management interventions and repairs have been completed for Milstein women's locker rooms, call rooms, ORs, and dictation rooms as well as HIP 5 patient restrooms.
• Heart Center LL3; Building entrance has been re-opened and access has been granted to the community.
• Parking Expansion; Parking privileges expanded to include all employee pay grades (based on application approval/parking availability). To submit a parking spot application, please click here.
• Elevator Modernization; Efforts to improve capital infrastructures is underway by the CUIMC Facilities Management team. For updates on ongoing upgrades campus-wide please visit the Facilities Management website. 
• Gym Redesign; New cardio equipment has been installed in the 50 Haven Athletic Room. For more information regarding memeberships and amenities please visit the Facilities Management website.

Objective: Re-engineer the current state clinical hiring/business plan workflow between CUIMC and NYP in order to implement a new streamlined and transparent process that will reduce clinical hiring approval times. 

Status: On Track

Latest Update: 

• Mapped current state workflows for NYP and CUIMC 
• Collaborating with NYP and CUIMC leadership teams to review the existing clinical hiring/business plan workflows and discuss improvement opportunities (discovery meetings slated for early April). Findings will determine next steps in re-engineering process. 
• Project team will also begin collaborating with IT partners and additional stakeholders to indentify a Task Management System vendor. 

Objective: Enhance the onboarding process and provide new hires with access to systems on the first day they join the organization

Status: On Track

Latest Update: 

• Pilot phase is currently underway with pilot groups (Emergency Medicine, Medicine – Hematology/Oncology, Rehab Medicine, Family Medicine & Dermatology). Next steps include;
  • Designing the approach for expanding the onboarding team to support additional departments and services using a phased roll out.
  • Implementation of a unified credentialing system that Columbia, Cornell and NYP will all utilize to further support standardization.
  • Identify a workflow task management tool to facilitate onboarding task execution and tracking.
• Process Improvement Initiatives; 
  • Alignment Subgroup; Standardizing and aligning document formats and requirements across stakeholders (PEG, MSO, OFA, etc.) and reviewing timelines and aligning key activities to improve efficiency.
  • Communication Subgroup; Improving communication workflows between stakeholders using existing system tools.
  • Resources & Knowledge Base Subgroups; Updating existing reference material to improve transparency around current processes and  creating new resources to facilitate correct systems training and provisioning.
  • Process improvement efforts slated to be finalized by April 2024.

• Systems Improvement Initiatives;

  • A unifed credentialing system has been identified by the tripartite stakeholders. Next steps include conducting a technical review and holding contracting discussions with legal, procurement and technical teams.  

  • Sub-workgroup and stakeholder meetings are ongoing focused on efforts in reviewing shared workflows for system redesign. Changes have been identified regarding document formats and sharing,  and approvals are pending. Materials are currently being drafted to standardize pre-employment communication with new provider hires. 

• Onboarding Experience
  • Induction camp sessions launching every 90 days (4/18, 7/17, and 10/15). Schedule for upcoming fiscal year is under development.
  • Engagement tool kit has been finalized. Team will be distributing tool kit via various channels (TBD). 

Objective: Create pipelining routes for key talent from CU programs or outside institutions.

Status: On Track

Latest Update: 

• HR team is currently re-evaluating future state workflow design to meet additional client needs. Talent Sourcing Campaign page has been drafted; go-live date is TBD. 
• Collaboration is ongoing with TalentLink and Central HR recruitment experts to review workflows and with TSM committee to review/validate mock page and key word searches for internal pool. 

Objective: Creating a library of job descriptions that will expedite the requisition of new roles request

Status: On Track

Latest Update: Team is curently evaluating next wave of job titles (coordinators and assistant roles) for standardization. 

Objective: Implement career ladders for Medical Education group adopting established workforce planning methodology

Status: On Track

Latest Update: 

• Descriptions for three divisions has been drafted and are pending final approval (go-live slated for July 1st). Phase II is currently underway which will focus on next sprint of future state changes. 
• Manager trainings schedule for mid-April to review changes. 

Objective: Streamline and optimize leave request procedures in order to expedite knowledge sharing and form submission. 

Status: On Track

Latest Update: Project team is currently designing future state workflow and preparing corresponding materials and dashboard for future state analytics. Targeting pilot for April 2024. 

• Electronic Time Keeping - TLAM; For questions/additional information please contact Neil McClure; nm2480@cumc.columbia.edu.
• Foster Grandparent/NICU Program; Although NYP's Foster Grandparent Program is no longer available, NYP's Cuddler Program is available on a limited basis at MSCHONY. For more information, please contact Program Coordinator Kat Connelly; lsj9009@nyp.org.
• Gym Benefits Expansion; Discounts for campus and neighboring gym facilities have been expanded to accomodate CU employees.

Objective: Expand the use of Microsoft Teams to facilitate collaboration between CU/WC/NYP 

Status: On Track

Latest Update:  An improved version of Microsoft Teams (commonly referred to as T2 Teams) is now available. This update brings enhanced features, improved performance, and a more intuitive interface to the familiar Teams application. Learn more about Teams.  You can now see the Try New Teams toggle in the top left corner of your Teams application. Please be advised Microsoft will soon make the new version the default experience and discontinue Classic Teams.

Here are some key highlights of the new Teams:

1. Enhanced User Profiles:
   • Quickly view a colleague’s online status, next available calendar slot in Outlook, work hours, local time, or work location (remote or in-office) by clicking on their profile photo.
2. People App:
   • Access your contacts through the new People app, which replaces the previous Contacts feature in Chat.
3. Windows Notifications:
   • Teams’ notifications are now fully served from within Teams, and all notification preferences can be managed directly in Teams Settings.
4. Improved Appearance:
   • Enjoy updated colors, tooltip styles, and a refreshed overall appearance.
5. Organization – People a User Works With Feature:
   • Easily navigate to people a user works with from the user’s profile card within Teams by clicking Organization.
6. Conference Line - Feature:
   • We are also making available the Conference Line Phone Number feature along with the T2 Teams release. When you create meetings it will have a conference line number as well (Staff and Faculty only

If you encounter any issues, have any questions, or need assistance, please reach out to the CUIMC IT Service Desk at (212) 305-4357 (5-HELP), option 5.

Efforts managed by CUIMC IT project team. For more information please reach out to Lianna Piccarillo; lm2882@cumc.columbia.edu. 

Objective: Project aimed at assessing campus wide software licensing practices and systems in order to develop a shared model which aligns processes, consolidates systems and reduces redundancies and improves cost savings. 

Status: On Track

Latest Update: Project team is conducting a systems inventory assessment campus-wide in collaboration with local IT teams. Application inventory effort is 85% complete. 

Efforts managed by CUIMC IT project team. For more information please reach out to Lianna Piccarillo; lm2882@cumc.columbia.edu. 

• Microsoft Outlook Training, Tips & Resources; 
  • Enterprise Learning Management and LinkedIn Learning sites offer resources for skills development   
  • CUIMC IT resource page for support on technical questions/concerns related to CUIMC email and Outlook.
• Box File Sharing; Cloud based services for file sharing is available for CUIMC users for secure sharing of FERPA, PHI, PII, and RHI. Solution is HIPAA-compliant, and provides data encryption in-transit as well as at-rest​, as well as full audit trials. Please note, accounts created outside of CUIMC Box enterprise are not approved for use with institutional data.  
  • Box account requests can be submitted via departmental IT support staff using the IT Staff Service Catalog in ServiceNow.
  • For additional details including an FAQ, please visit this link.
• Calendar Sharing Capabilities; Outlook users can now create links to share their availability with Google users or anyone outside of the Medical Center using Microsoft Bookings for Outlook. Details are available via this link: Microsoft Bookings | Microsoft Learn. For more information or to request a demo, please reach out Lianna Piccarillo; lm2882@cumc.columbia.edu.
• Wi-Fi Access points for Heart Center floors 3-5, Peds ED and HIP 11 assessed and impoved in collaboration with NYP IT teams. 
• Provider Cellphone Service Issues; NYP IT has conducted troubleshooting efforts in collaboration with cellphone providers to improve services at HIP. Issue has been resolved and confirmation of improved service has been received.
• Heart Center OR Computers; Troubleshooting was conducted by NYP IT on identified machines (OR 25-28) and time-out feature has been disabled.
• CUIMC Email Customization; Personalize CUIMC emails to reflect First/Last Names versus UNIs. To submit a request, please visit the CUIT website.
• Space Management; Pilot phase has concluded, and local project team (Anthony Teri; ast2163@cumc.columbia.edu) is continuously rolling out Smartway2 implementation for desired departments.

Objective: Create career ladders for research staff using the same methodology used in clinical mission

Status: On Track

Latest Update:

• Pre/Post Award career ladders has been completed and socialized with Research team. Expansion of career ladders into additional departments is underway.

Objective: Expand competency-based training curriculums to the research mission

Status: On Track

Latest Update:  

• Team is actively reviewing module drafts with Research SMEs and making preparations for pilot phase. 
• Initial pilots for pre/post award (non-management groups) to be launched in April. 

Objective: Implement an in-house training program for internal candidates to obtain phlebotomy training to support NYS certification requirements. 

Status: On Track

Latest Update: 

• Program design has been finalized and is pending final leadership review and validation.
• Pilot slated to potentially launch May 2024.

Efforts in alignment with National Healthcareer Association (NHA)  

Objective: Develop and implement a comprehensive Training Management System to optimize the planning, tracking, and assessment of research grants 

Status: On Track

Latest Update: 

TMS platform slated for completion by end of August 2024. Several tasks related to data access are pending due to external factors/teams. In the meantime, the development team is focused on the production of interface screens and infrastructure. Project team continues to assist in developing and implementing mitigation plans to ensure timely go-live

• Centralized Research Laboratory; a new centralized research lab is currently under construction and slated to be operational by the fall. For more information or questions regarding this project, please contact Danielle Pendrick (dp2657@cumc.columbia.edu). 
• Dry Ice Inventory; an initial proposal for a centralized dry ice inventory model has been drafted aimed at improving inventory efficiencies and reducing costs. Project teams are actively reviewing short and long term solutions in order to develop implementation plans.  
• Proposal is under development for a "central data core" (Medicare, Medicaid and commercial claims data)

• Support for protocol submission in RASCAL;
  • Office hours are available and a central email address irboffice@columbia.edu is available (checked on a daily basis) for direct individual support. 
  • There is also a directory with individuals' contact information so research personnel can identify the staff members who support the IRB to which their protocol is assigned.
  • Research personnel can join the listserv to receive the HRPO neswletter distributed bi-monthly. To join the listserv please email irboffice@columbia.edu.
  • Investigators who experience delays in IRB reviews should notify the staff who are involved in the review through accessing the office directors. For unresolved matters please contact the irboffice@columbia.edu.
• Reciprocity between CU and NYSPI IRB modules; Faculty with joint CU and NYSPI appointments should not have to complete required a module twice in CITI. The investigator should ensure they are affiliated with both CU and NYSPI in CITI and completing it once will satisfy both requirements. Investigators can contact the IRBoffice@columbia.edu if they encounter difficulty. 
• Research Sub-Award LOI; Forms where Columbia University is the primary applicant are now available in PDF fillable versions. CU subrecipient forms are being transitioned as well, and timeline is TBD. 
• Office for Research Resources;
  • Grant  Starter Kit - Click here for tools and resources such as standardized templates and primer documents to help facilitate the proposal and grant writing process.  This website also includes various links to additional resources used available throughout Columbia and NIH.
  • Facilities & Resources - This site hosts descriptions of departments, centers, institutes, core/shared facilities, scientific initiatives, and institutional resources that can enhance your application. Please note that the F&R Bank is an opt-in repository and not all the resources are listed. If you are looking for write-ups for unlisted resources email the VP&S Office for Research, and they will help provide the necessary information.
• RASCAL Proposal Tracking PT 3.0;​​​​
  • Administrative Staff are now able to create child Rascal PT records; Administrative staff are required to have Rascal reporting access – if staff need to request access, see options below.
    • The department dean or chair can complete an Authorization Request for RASCAL Departmental Reports form in Rascal.
    • The department dean or chair can send an email to rascal@columbia.edu with a listing of the different departments codes the administrator needs access to in Rascal PT, plus the UNI and name of the administrator needing access.  
  • Budget: Refresh Award Information; Selecting the appropriate Budget Period on the Rascal Budget screen when creating a child proposal.
    • If you are experiencing issues, please contact with you SPA project officer and please be sure to include the Rascal PT number of the child proposal.
    • SPA will then make edits to the awarded budget and instruct on next steps to see reflected changes in order to proceed completing the necessary information. 
• Research Optimization Strategy; End to End workflows have been mapped for Pre and Post Award teams. The documented workflows will be shared with research departments currently not using centralized award teams.
• Capture consent and track eligible patients for research in Epic; We are piloting a workflow in Epic to capture a Consent to Contact form in the Connect patient portal where patients could consent to be contacted for research in the future. If there is a researcher who would like to use this recruitment mechanism, they should contact CTOinformation@columbia.edu to go over the recruitment procedures and approvals.
• Clinical Trials Epic Reports; Team identified research specific tools in Epic which address reporting concerns. Team has been trained on functionality and team is working with the training team to develop a continuous training schedule for ongoing/future support.