City of Hope will transition to a new information system on Aug. 1. The City of Hope Information System (CIS) will improve scheduling, billing, finance, laboratory and pharmacy capabilities.

Information Technology Services (ITS) and CIS project team members are working with more than 160 employees — called “super users” — from departments throughout

Medical oncology clinic staff members learn about the upcoming transition to the City of Hope Information System from Dr. Care (physician Robert Morgan Jr.). (Photo by p.cunningham)

Beginning July 31, employees can get help through the new CIS Command Center. The command center will be staffed by ITS Help Desk employees, CIS subject-matter experts (employees with in-depth knowledge of specific clinical or business areas) and representatives from Eclipsys, the company that worked with City of Hope to design the CIS.

Located in the old blood bank facility, the command center will provide support to users 24 hours a day, seven days a week for several weeks. Users may access experts at the center by calling the Help Desk at ext. 64357. Employees with less urgent requests may submit a Request for Service form electronically.

Staff will provide assistance and troubleshoot to help employees gain confidence as they use the new system. CIS job aides for specific functions and areas, such as nursing, also will be posted on the CIS intranet site (www.coh.org/cis) for easy access.

“We have merged members of the CIS project teams and ITS’s application-support group to assemble a core team that will provide expert, hands-on support for all CIS users,” said Warren Chandler, chief information officer. “Ensuring that employees feel confident and know how to properly use the new system has been a major focus of the CIS implementation.”

Employees have been planning for the launch, or “go live,” for several months. CIS activation teams reviewed work-flow and process improvements, conducted system tests and ensured that new policies and procedures were created for changes to workflow. More than 2,400 employees and medical staff have received CIS training, and the institution recently added more workstations to allow staff to practice.

The transition to the new CIS (the Eclipsys system) is scheduled for 12:01 a.m. on Aug. 1. “We will not lose access to information during the transition,” Chandler said. Existing systems that will work with CIS, such as Radiology, Safetrace and SoftMed, will need to be ready to communicate new results in what is called “downtime” mode, in case of processing delays, he said; however, staff will be able to access existing patient information while new interfaces and systems are activated. 

City of Hope leaders expressed confidence about a successful transition and stressed the importance of CIS to City of Hope’s mission.

“The support and enthusiasm of the physicians and staff for CIS has been impressive,” said Virginia Opipare, executive vice president and chief operating officer. “Everyone has really risen to the occasion — from physicians to nurses, from the labs to radiology to the pharmacy. We appreciate everyone’s hard work and dedication and are confident that by working together, we will achieve a successful implementation.”

Added Alexandra M. Levine, M.D., chief medical officer, “The CIS implementation teams have worked tirelessly for months in preparation for ‘go live.’ We are looking forward to implementation and to working with our new information system, which brings us sophisticated and integrated technology to assist physicians, nurses and other staff in providing outstanding care to our patients.

“This is actually going to be a lot of fun! The CIS will help us tremendously, and I’m really excited to get started.”