We did it!
It only took five months of preparation; a few hundred thousand dollars out the door; countless hours spent configuring servers and training users; connections forged with our registration and badge photo systems; coordination and installation of wall-mounted small-form-factor PCs in exam rooms; setup of document scanners, insurance card scanners, label printers, network printers, signature pads and checkin kiosks; and more patience than I have ever had to demonstrate in my entire life.
But this week we rolled out the new electronic medical records software to two clinics. Woo hoo!
Three people from the software vendor were on site all week getting the last-minute setup going, answering questions, and just generally "being there." Our project lead, I have to say, gave me a MUCH better impression in person than she did over the phone, e-mail and GoToMeeting sessions. She and the two IT types were really, really complimentary about all the setup we did, and the training conducted and all that.
I'm feeling pretty good about my leadership over the last five months, and really over the last year, since we started work on this project a LONG time ago... November/December of 2006, I think? I've learned a lot about being assertive and making game-time decisions, and I dare say my organizational skills have improved QUITE a bit.
My second clinic was definitely less prepared than the first one. They are pretty understaffed and didn't make much time for training and "playing" in the system. I didn't stand up and MAKE them do it, like I should have, but who ever listens to the IT guy anyway, right? Heh. Everyone knows where the blame lies, and it's not with me. But I am really stepping in, er... diving in, and giving them a crash course on the system. They'll be ok if the clinic director learns that yelling at her nurses and scowling is not setting a good example or a positive environment for working OR learning :)
Next week, I hopefully won't be working 10- or 12-hour days. I'd like to ride the bus again (I drove all this week). We'll have two more "details" people in from the vendor to finalize some template and billing items. Both of them have been really great while we were working on setup, so I think my deployment team members will find them very helpful. And it's my hope that I can stop hearing "brian! brian! brian! brian!" around every corner, sometime very soon!
But this week we rolled out the new electronic medical records software to two clinics. Woo hoo!
Three people from the software vendor were on site all week getting the last-minute setup going, answering questions, and just generally "being there." Our project lead, I have to say, gave me a MUCH better impression in person than she did over the phone, e-mail and GoToMeeting sessions. She and the two IT types were really, really complimentary about all the setup we did, and the training conducted and all that.
I'm feeling pretty good about my leadership over the last five months, and really over the last year, since we started work on this project a LONG time ago... November/December of 2006, I think? I've learned a lot about being assertive and making game-time decisions, and I dare say my organizational skills have improved QUITE a bit.
My second clinic was definitely less prepared than the first one. They are pretty understaffed and didn't make much time for training and "playing" in the system. I didn't stand up and MAKE them do it, like I should have, but who ever listens to the IT guy anyway, right? Heh. Everyone knows where the blame lies, and it's not with me. But I am really stepping in, er... diving in, and giving them a crash course on the system. They'll be ok if the clinic director learns that yelling at her nurses and scowling is not setting a good example or a positive environment for working OR learning :)
Next week, I hopefully won't be working 10- or 12-hour days. I'd like to ride the bus again (I drove all this week). We'll have two more "details" people in from the vendor to finalize some template and billing items. Both of them have been really great while we were working on setup, so I think my deployment team members will find them very helpful. And it's my hope that I can stop hearing "brian! brian! brian! brian!" around every corner, sometime very soon!