After two years of planning and preparation through EpicLeap, thousands of individuals from across all areas of Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) came together overnight to “Go Live” and launch eStar, the new computer system that will support the health system’s electronic health records, workflows for inpatient and outpatient care delivery, test ordering, billing and other hospital and clinic operations. Along the way, EpicLeap has already involved 18,000 employees who work in the Medical Center’s health system.

On Nov. 2, Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) will switch to a new computer system, called eStar, which will support the health system’s electronic health records, workflows for inpatient and outpatient care delivery, test ordering, billing and other hospital and clinic operations.

From extensive test results to exam notes to the very latest in medical research, modern health care professionals have become overloaded with data. As a result, it is now a critical mission for academic medical centers to translate this often-raw data into actionable knowledge used to deliver expert patient care, drive efficient clinical operations and promote discovery and education.

The Nashville Health Care Council is naming Vanderbilt’s Sam Chang, M.D., MBA, professor of Urologic Surgery and Oncology, and Neal Patel, M.D., professor of Clinical Pediatrics, to its 2016 Council Fellows class, selected by the Council Fellows Advisory Committee led by former U.S. Sen. Majority Leader Bill Frist, M.D.

Neal Patel, M.D., MPH, has been named chief medical informatics officer for the Vanderbilt University Health System. Patel, professor of Clinical Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, has served as the inpatient chief medical information officer since 2006.

Neal Patel, M.D., MPH, professor of Clinical Pediatrics and chief medical information officer for inpatient services at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, is the first-place recipient of the 2013 Healthcare Informatics/AMDIS IT Innovation Advocate Award, recognizing leaders who have helped move the health care industry forward through their innovations.