[Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article said the Epic deployment would result in 1,650 displaced employees. This version is now corrected. We regret the error.]
Trinity Health said on Thursday that its massive conversion to Epic’s EHR platform will cause 1,650 Trinity Health employees to be relocated or their positions outsourced in the coming years.
Among those are approximately 450 IT employees, Trinity said, and they will be offered employment with Trinity partner Leidos.
ON THE RECORD
Trinity CIO Marcus Shipley said the shift to a single EHR platform will mean changes for the employees who have thus far worked to support the system’s legacy apps and infrastructure.
“Their work is a critical component of our smooth transition and we are glad to have found a way to provide these colleagues with better long-term career and professional development opportunities,” Shipley said in a statement.
Trinity’s statement also said that the enterprise platform will improve efficiencies across 22 states “while supporting employees whose jobs at Trinity Health may transition or end in the immediate or longer-term future,” according to Trinity’s statement. “The changes, aligned with Trinity Health’s efforts to build a people-centered health system that is committed to delivering high-quality, coordinated and affordable care, include potential job changes and relocations for about 1,650 colleagues as well as the creation of three centralized patient billing service centers.”
WHY IT MATTERS
Trinity Health is one of the largest multi-institutional Catholic healthcare delivery systems in the nation, serving more than 30 million people across 22 states with 94 hospitals and other facilities.
Healthcare IT News reported last May that Trinity Health had selected Epic to build out its enterprise-wide EHR and revenue cycle management system — an implementation expected to take four years, and with an undisclosed price tag.
Trinity officials said the integrated Epic platform will allow the health system to improve experiences for patients and clinicians across the board.
THE LARGER TREND
This doesn’t bode well for health IT professionals, as Healthcare IT News reported Jan. 25 that Kansas City-based Cerner has offered some of its employees a “voluntary departure.”
“We’re offering eligible associates a voluntary departure with financial and health-related benefits, providing individuals the chance to pursue other desired career opportunities,” a Cerner spokesperson told the Kansas City Business Journal, which reported that Cerner didn’t disclose the terms of eligibility for the layoffs.
Diana Manos is a Washington, D.C.-area freelance writer specializing in healthcare, wellness and technology.
Twitter: @Diana_Manos
Email the writer: [email protected]
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