As Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) gears up for the Nov. 2 launch of eStar, teams throughout the medical center are hard at work to ensure the transition is seamless and positive for patients and their families.

Aspiring medical students Lauren Holroyd and Julian Genkins took a break from academics after earning their undergraduate degrees and went to work for the health care software company Epic, based in Verona, Wisconsin. Although they did not know each other at the time, they would both end up at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine (VUSM) where they would put their Epic expertise to work.

The EpicLeap project recently reached an important milestone, with the official start of end user training having begun on Aug. 21. While in-class training sessions provide colleagues with their first glimpse into Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s (VUMC) customized system (eStar) and familiarize them with the new functionality, it is important to remember that live classroom sessions are only one small aspect of a holistic training approach.

The Epic Electronic Health Record System, eStar, will go live at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) on Nov. 2 and will enable Medical Center health care providers to prescribe controlled substances electronically.

EpicLeap, a project that will transform patient care at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) through new technology and processes, started in 2015 with a notification from a technology vendor. A few of the key pieces of software VUMC uses to currently provide care were no longer going to be supported by the vendor. Vanderbilt’s HealthIT team was then faced with a crucial decision — they could provide support for the software bundle themselves, upgrade to the vendor’s suggested replacements, or consider a totally different solution altogether.

“If you haven’t been part of an Epic Go Live before, it’s a pretty amazing experience,” said Chris Costello, director of the EpicLeap program, referring to the time period when Epic software goes into production for the first time. “It’s borderline magical.”