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Epic Gold Stars shine big and bright.

It may take a high-powered space telescope to see the outer reaches of the universe, but deep in the heart of Houston Methodist, the stars shine big and bright  Epic Gold Stars, that is.

For the third year in a row, HM was recognized as a Gold Stars Level 9 by Epic Corp., placing us in a prestigious group of health care institutions.

This year, we ranked in the top 18% of Epic’s 400+ customers worldwide. Only 16 customers reached level 10, while 41 reached level 9 and 71 reached level 8. Epic’s Gold Stars program helps customers identify features they can use to improve the patient experience, clinical and financial outcomes and overall feature adoption.

“This recognition from Epic validates what we already know to be true about Houston Methodist, our technologies are world-class and our commitment to providing premier solutions is unwavering,” said Ken Letkeman, HM SVP and chief information officer.

“Achieving Gold Stars level 9 requires a collaborative team effort, and we are fortunate to have exceptional operational partners and a committed community of Epic users.”

Working together, we’re bringing about meaningful system improvements that enhance patient safety and quality, provide greater workflow efficiencies, reduce system complexities and maximize productivity.

“As we continue to strive to provide the highest level of patient care and service, we recognized the essential role Epic and other technologies play,” said Vicki Brownewell, MS, RN, VP and chief nursing officer at HMW. “Through Epic, our patients have tools, like MyChart, to manage their health care needs. And clinicians and staff can easily view and record notes that paint the complete patient story, leading to better outcomes and improved safety.”

Adapting to the needs of our patients, clinicians and staff.

Each year, Epic Corp. evaluates us on our adoption of over 700 tools and functionalities as part of the Gold Stars program. This ensures we continue leveraging Epic to promote the highest levels of patient care and a positive experience for our providers, clinicians and staff.

“Houston Methodist has a track record of excellence in patient care technology, highlighted by this recent Gold Stars recognition,” said Eric Danowski from Epic.

“You are a leader in the use of technology to improve patient and financial outcomes and this is one more way you continue to focus on leading medicine.”

Several of our recent Epic enhancements were part of this year’s Gold Stars evaluation and now benefit our patients and clinicians, including:

  • Nursing Workload Scoring tool, a pilot started in April 2022, helps managers, directors and charge nurses balance their staff workloads and identify patients requiring greater clinical attention.
  • Compass Rose promotes community-based care opportunities for patients based on social and economic factors that may impact their health, like food scarcity, available transportation or language/literacy skills. It links patients with existing community programs and tracks patient outcomes.
  • Compact Forms for cardiology simplifies the documentation of invasive and non-invasive cardiac exams to provide greater efficiencies and ensure accurate patient data.
  • Flightboard, currently piloting in ORs at Houston Methodist Clear Lake and Houston Methodist Sugar Land, displays the latest case information for providers and surgical/anesthesia staff. This information is automatically updated using data entered into Epic by the attending surgical staff.
  • Registration Navigators replaces Interactive Face Sheets and combines fields for patient information previously spread across multiple screens into a streamlined, easier-to-complete workflow.
  • BookIT, the new scheduling tool, provides a faster way to view and schedule patient appointments systemwide.

Epic and Gold Stars by the numbers.

Every change made to Epic is done with the patient and clinician experience in mind. Here are a few of our Gold Star statistics.

Shooting for the stars.

Like astronomers who continuously search for new stars and galaxies, HM continues to build, grow and improve Epic. And like the stars at night in Texas, our quality Epic system helps our providers, clinicians and staff shine even bigger and brighter for our patients.