The Department of Medicine Epic Coordinating Committee is a cross-divisional work group focused on improving how the Department uses Epic to support patient care, clinician efficiency, and operational effectiveness.
Committee Co-lead
Committee Co-lead
The committee helps identify and prioritize Epic improvement opportunities, coordinates divisional and department-wide optimization efforts, promotes training and best practices, and serves as a liaison between DOM faculty and Epic support teams. Current initiatives include specialty optimization sprints, Epic training and onboarding support, workflow improvement, and evaluation of new digital and AI-enabled tools in clinical care.
The WashU Clinical Assistance Team (WUCAT) helps providers and support staff feel confident, efficient, and successful when using the EMR. The team offers a range of services designed to improve workflows, enhance the user experience, and support day-to-day clinical operations, including:
- New provider onboarding, including personalization labs and first-day clinic support
- One-on-one efficiency sessions to optimize EMR use and workflows
- Clinic shadowing and at-the-elbow support to identify opportunities for improvement and provide real-time assistance
- Workflow analysis and design, including submission of optimization requests when needed
- Troubleshooting Epic issues, with escalation and ticket submission as appropriate
- Resident and fellow onboarding, including personalization lab sessions
- EPCS enrollment and re-enrollment support
- Abridge support
WUCAT partners with clinical teams to ensure they have the knowledge, tools, and support needed to work effectively in Epic and deliver the best possible patient care.
Contact: gs-wucat@bjc.org
The Department of Medicine’s Specialty Sprint program provides focused Epic support and education at the division level. The goal is simple: spend a few weeks working closely with a specialty, identify where Epic is creating unnecessary work, and help providers make better use of the tools already available to them.
In 2026, the program shifted to a shorter, more focused model. While earlier optimization efforts often centered on identifying build opportunities, the current approach places greater emphasis on provider education, personalization, and workflow improvements that can be implemented during the Sprint.
What a Specialty Sprint Looks Like
Each Sprint begins by working with division leadership and clinicians to understand their needs and identify areas where additional Epic support may be helpful. The Sprint team then works directly with providers through personalization sessions, clinic support, and targeted education.
Common areas of optimization include:
- Epic personalization, including SmartPhrases, preference lists, filters, and other efficiency tools
- Documentation and ordering workflows
- In Basket efficiency
- Specialty-specific Epic functionality and available content
- Education on existing tools or features that may be underused
- Individual workflow questions or areas where Epic adds unnecessary steps
The goal is not to give every provider the same recommendations. A tool that saves one clinician time may not fit another clinician’s workflow. Working directly with providers allows the team to understand those differences and focus on changes that are genuinely useful.
The typical timeline is 1 to 4 weeks, depending on the size of the division.
WUCAT Onsite Support
One of the most valuable parts of the Sprint model is the opportunity to work with clinicians directly. Support may be provided onsite, virtually, or through a hybrid approach depending on division needs.
These conversations often reveal simple opportunities that might otherwise be missed. A provider may be spending extra time navigating to information that could be accessed more easily with a filter, repeatedly typing documentation that could be streamlined with a SmartPhrase, or unaware that Epic already offers a tool to address a specific challenge. These are exactly the kinds of opportunities the Sprint is designed to identify.
The team emphasizes that its presence in clinic is not intended to audit or judge Epic users. The goal is simply to support clinicians and make the system easier to use.
How We Know It Is Helping
The team is exploring several ways to evaluate the program, including:
- Epic Signal click data
- SmartTool utilization
- Provider participation
- Direct feedback
- Sprint satisfaction surveys
That said, the program’s primary measure of success remains provider feedback during the Sprint. This feedback helps the team understand what is working, where Epic continues to create friction, and what topics may need additional education or follow-up.
Abridge is an ambient AI documentation tool designed to reduce administrative burden and help clinicians spend more time focused on their patients. Through a collaborative implementation across the Department of Medicine, Abridge is being integrated into clinical workflows with attention to usability, clinician experience, and responsible adoption.
The goal is to leverage emerging technologies to streamline documentation, support clinician well-being, and enhance the overall care experience for patients and care teams. The implementation effort includes ongoing measurement, clinician feedback, and continuous improvement to ensure the technology delivers meaningful value in daily practice.
Efforts to address Workplace Efficiency
If none are currently listed, please check back later as new are added regularly.