On Nov. 30, VUMC began using Epic Telehealth for most outpatient visits and will no longer rely on Zoom for telehealth visits except in rare cases. The transition has been successful, with an average of 750 telehealth visits occurring daily in the new platform.
One benefit of this transition is that patients and clinicians are no longer required to download Zoom before their visits, which improves the efficiency of joining a visit.
“The new telemedicine platform has been excellent. No issues with connecting, all the patients are getting in the visit much faster. Just a great experience overall so far,” said Kaylin Craig, MD, associate professor of Medicine on go-live day.
“The transition to the Epic Video Client last week went very well. We had minimal disruption to the telehealth workflow, which was awesome. The team was extremely prepared, and any small issues encountered were handled quickly and efficiently. Several colleagues commented that it was an easy transition, and most patients couldn’t even tell there was a change.” added Sara Horst MD, MPH, associate professor of Medicine and Medical Director of Ambulatory Telehealth.
“We can share links more easily with patients if they are having issues by directly texting or emailing. I hope these improvements will continue to increase telehealth capacity for patients and clinicians in the future.”
Epic’s video functionality is relatively new and, as such, lacks some features clinicians grew accustomed to in Zoom, including personal backgrounds and the ability to chat during the video visit. Health IT and the telehealth department are discussing the availability of those features with Epic.
“We are thrilled to see continued adoption of telehealth and Epic’s new video functionality will enhance the telehealth experience for our patients and clinicians”, said Amber Humphrey, Senior Director of Telehealth.
Please visit https://healthit.vumc.org/epic-telehealth for more information on Epic Telehealth.
