Case Study
UST’s managed services enable a U.S. healthcare company to streamline Epic ambulatory support and reduce costs by 12%
OUR CLIENT
This regional U.S. healthcare provider operates multiple award-winning hospitals and specialty centers. It is known for excellence in cardiology, orthopedics, oncology, and medical research. With approximately 30,000 employees, the organization delivers comprehensive care to millions of patients annually through a broad network of hospitals, urgent care centers, and telehealth services across the northeastern United States.
THE CHALLENGE
Unlocking efficiency of in-house Epic support team
The healthcare provider relies on Epic Systems’ electronic health record (EHR) software as its central platform for storing and accessing patient information. The company depended on an internal team of employees to manage the application across its vast organization. However, the team struggled to function efficiently to accomplish its wide range of responsibilities. For example, the team was spending most of its time managing day-to-day support tickets, leaving little time to roll out new modules and clinical workflows that could help care teams improve health outcomes and enhance patient experiences. The company had also acquired several new hospitals that needed to be onboarded to the company’s Epic system. The team has little bandwidth to accomplish this critical project.
The healthcare company required guidance and a governance model to enable its in-house Epic support team to operate more efficiently and better understand its performance metrics, allowing the team to focus on strategic initiatives.
THE TRANSFORMATION
Implemented Epic managed services, EHR governance, and reporting infrastructure
UST deployed a managed services model to complement the company’s in-house Epic support team. The engagement provided a team of highly skilled technology experts to manage Level 3 (L3), Level 4 (L4), and Level 5 (L5) support tickets. The engagement also included the implementation of a rigorous governance model and operational reporting structure for managed services, along with guidance to help the in-house Epic support team function more efficiently. This framework included key metrics, such as KPIs and SLAs, providing valuable insights and driving improvements to reduce costs, accelerate issue resolution times, and increase throughput. Now, at any given time, the team knows its efficiency and cost-effectiveness, and it can focus on strategic priorities. The in-house team is also readily available to focus on critical Level 1 and Level 2 Epic support issues that often involve life-or-death patient care situations.
A unique element of the engagement is the pay-for-performance cost model. If UST doesn’t meet key performance metrics in a given month, the healthcare company doesn’t have to pay. This outcomes-based approach helps ensure client satisfaction and results in a predictable cost-per-ticket resolution. Another unique aspect of this contract model is that the company earns innovation credits. The healthcare provider can use the credits for a special project in addition to the managed services engagement.
THE IMPACT
SLA-driven IT support delivers significant cost improvements and Epic EHR optimizations
With the UST managed services team productive on day 1, this successful engagement very quickly resulted in these business benefits within the company’s ambulatory division:
- YOY reduction in operating costs—through UST’s managed services support team and more efficient governance model
- 100% SLA adherence for P3-P5 support tickets—allowing the in-house Epic support team to focus on critical life and death support issues and more strategic projects that enhance patient care
- 110% ticket triage rate—well above the ticket-handling goal of 350+ Epic outpatient support tickets per month, showcasing the value of managed services
- 80%-100% consistent work queue clearance—for resolved errors across multiple workstreams, highlighting the efficiency gains of the Epic managed services support team
Looking ahead with AI
Encouraged by early success, the healthcare company is expanding UST’s managed services model to other divisions. The organization is also preparing to use its innovation credits to explore artificial intelligence (AI) enhancements for Epic—aiming to streamline operations, improve care quality, and further reduce costs. UST is leading workshops to identify AI-driven opportunities that can automate repetitive tasks, optimize clinical workflows, and elevate the EHR experience for both providers and patients.
If your company wants to achieve Epic service delivery excellence with managed IT services, UST can help. Learn more here.