Our Epic Transformation: Empowering our employee workgroups

Our Epic Transformation officially kicks off on Tuesday, June 3, when hundreds of employees assigned to Epic workgroups will gather for a project overview, team introductions, platform demonstrations and more. The foundation for that work is already in place, with six advisory councils and 55 workgroups formed. Here’s a look at what they’ll do.

Our Epic workgroups

Our Epic Transformation is structured to ensure decisions are made thoughtfully, collaboratively and efficiently by those who know our workflows best — our employees. Fifty-five specialized workgroups are composed of clinical, operational and technical team members from across Penn State Health and Penn State College of Medicine. They will make approximately 85% of the decisions related to how Epic is configured for our needs. From clinical documentation to patient access and billing, each group brings focused expertise to the process.

The workgroups will follow the guiding principles developed by the Epic Executive Steering Committee. The fourth principle, “We will use what’s available in Epic and follow the Epic Foundation model for any necessary workflow modifications,” will ensure that Our Epic Transformation remains on schedule. The Epic Foundation is the standardized, out-of-the-box version of Epic’s electronic medical record and revenue cycle management system. It includes a core set of pre-built content, workflows, configurations and best practices based on industry standards and Epic’s experience with leading health systems. It provides a proven, efficient baseline that can be modified to meet truly unique clinical, operational or regulatory needs.

Advisory councils

If a decision needs broader alignment or affects multiple areas, it will be escalated to one of our six Epic advisory councils. These are director-level groups that provide cross-functional oversight and will handle about 10% of the decisions, ensuring our Epic build remains cohesive, consistent and aligned with our strategic goals.

The Executive Steering Committee

Our Executive Steering Committee is a team of senior leaders who will make the remaining 5% of decisions — those that are enterprise-wide, carry significant strategic weight or require major resource allocation. Their role is to keep the project aligned with our mission, values and long-term goals.

The tiered structure empowers our staff, streamlines decision-making and ensures that Our Epic Transformation will work for everyone — patients, providers and staff alike.

Learn more and share your feedback

Learn more about Our Epic Transformation at the dedicated Infonet site, including our FAQ section.

We want to know what excites you most about Our Epic Transformation! Email the team here and tell them about it.

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