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Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network Assesses IT Strategic Plan
Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network is a world-class inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation network providing comprehensive rehab and assistive technology services to patients with physical and cognitive disabilities. More than 60,000 people visit Good Shepherd each year for specialized programs in stroke, orthopedics, brain injury, spinal cord injury, pediatrics, amputation, and more. The organization consists of three divisions (Long Term Care, Long Term Acute Care, and Rehabilitation) that provide inpatient and ambulatory rehabilitation services in 39 locations across 11 counties in eastern Pennsylvania, as well as in partnership with the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network
Mike Cirba, CIO
“Aspen’s ability to come in and quickly understand the critical points for improvement in our organization and deliver concrete, implementable recommendations was impressive. Their professional yet personal approach resulted in universal acceptance across all levels of our organization; I haven’t experienced this type of consulting anywhere. Aspen is a different breed of consultants doing real consulting.”
THE CHALLENGE
Good Shepherd had been pursuing a “best-of-breed” IT strategy, supported by a suite of applications and technologies including Pyxis, Theradoc, McKesson Star patient management and revenue cycle, and MediServe enterprise scheduling and clinical documentation. Additionally, a robust network infrastructure provided connectivity among its 39 locations and with other acute care hospitals in the area. Good Shepherd had anticipated reimbursement changes in the industry and had also decided to integrate its service lines and grow partnerships and joint ventures. With these changes, there were IS implications. Integrated patient information needed to be available through an EMR / CDR, decision support and data mining would be even more critical, and information sharing was required for partner acute organizations and across service lines. As such, Good Shepherd wanted an objective evaluation of the IT strategic plan with short and long-term recommendations for an IT roadmap for the future.
THE SOLUTION
Aspen was engaged to assess the current IT function and recommend a viable course of action. This included providing a view of its existing Information Systems capabilities, defining those technologies that were in place to support their business objectives, and defining the type of leadership that would be required in order to oversee those Information Systems activities. Aspen worked with Good Shepherd to identify the organization’s business objectives and assess the Information Systems department’s readiness to support these business objectives. Specific engagement objectives included:
- Assessing the IT environment: current applications portfolio, technology infrastructure, and governance model;
- Reviewing the MediServe (Scheduling and Clinical Documentation) implementation;
- Comparing Good Shepherd’s IT environment and strategy to that of similar organizations and providing education to executive leadership on trends in healthcare IT;
- Providing options for moving forward and supporting GSRN’s business and clinical initiatives; and
- Identifying a cost-effective preferred path to implementing future technologies (strategy, technology portfolio, and resulting high-level cost model) and recommend a supporting governance model.
THE RESULTS
As a result of the engagement, the management team at Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network had a clear path and action plan for the future. They had the appropriate linkage between investments in Information Technology and business operations, improved communication among the user community and the Information Systems organization, and an Information Systems Assessment Report that would guide them in effectively and efficiently utilizing information technology. A key element of the plan included moving from the best-of-breed strategy toward application cluster solutions around clinical, financial, and revenue cycle core suites of applications in order to drive more value. A vision for information flow within the organization was developed in order to support the seamless flow of patients across Good Shepherd’s provider / partner network and enable caregiver access to patient information to promote effective and safe care. And, an EMR strategy was developed to consolidate data to create a longitudinal patient record – one source of truth.
