Congratulations go to Kimi Barrett-Stanley of Carolinas Healthcare System for being an active participant in the InSight Rewards Program and the top point earner for May 2013. Kimi shared with us her experience as a top contributor and how she reaps the benefits of the InSight website.  For more information on the Insight Badge Program and how you can earn points click here!

How long have you been an InSight member?

I have been an Insight Member since early 2011 but only recently have I been actively participating and promoting the site for a group of 8 hospitals that are remote hosted. We have only been on Paragon for the past year and a half with the last hospital going live October 2012. We are all located in the Carolina states and promote collaboration and sharing under the management umbrella of Carolinas Healthcare System, a multihospital system located in Charlotte, NC.

How long have you been working with McKesson products?

Actively since January 2011.

How has the InSight website helped you and your organization?

We are promoting the site to enhance our collaborative efforts. We have created our own private discussion group on this site where we share lessons learned and optimization efforts. Remote Hosted facilities struggle with different issues. Paragon works a little differently when remote hosted so we can’t always rely on general answers from the non-hosted sites.

We are also using our group forum to discuss possible enhancements. We discuss them here first within our discussion group with the idea of getting every facility’s opinion and buy-in to understand it better and see if it will work for all of us.  Then we will be able to actively support an enhancement on SIG calls as a group.

Most of our facilities are actively participating on SIG calls for Nursing, Physicians, and I hope to get more users involved with the other SIG’s.  These have been invaluable to our learning of what is going on with Paragon and the direction the vendor is going with its product. We want to get our word in on how we think the system could work better and this is the forum where this can happen. Participants on these SIGs also share their lessons learned and help us maneuver through the system better.

What activities do you engage in on the InSight website most commonly?

Active on SIG calls and also asking questions of others facilities to see what process they are using within different applications and for different user groups that might help us.

What is the best problem solving advice you’ve received from the InSight website and/or community?

I have received many but most recently it has been with order processing, and also from the Technical calls as to what to expect with new versions that we will be going to. Very helpful information. And we are always looking for best efforts used to promote physician adoption, so we hope to see a lot more of this as others share and learn the system and what works best.

What function of the website have you found to be most helpful?

The SIG calls mostly and of course the ability to read and see questions and answers within councils and SIGs. But I highly encourage call participation as they have great McKesson representation on these calls listening to our needs. We can have a voice to the direction Paragon is going, and we learn more as to what we can do with Paragon as well as the features that are not there yet.

What tips do you have for others to get the most out of the InSight website and/or the InSight membership?

Actively participate. Set up your preferences and subscriptions to receive emails and updates when posting happens. Check the site at least once a week. Share your lessons learned so you can help others maximize Paragon usability and of course so we can see the benefits. We need to learn from others as the system is very complex, and why re-invent the wheel or struggle to find workarounds, or even our own solutions, if someone else has already found it. Ask and share what you are struggling with that might be something others can avoid.  If you are struggling or trying to find a solution to a workflow issues, do your homework and come here first.

Any additional comments you would like to share?

I hope the site becomes a place for a lot more Paragon users to find answers and not struggle with the system, as well as the place for those that are mastering the system, to be examples of what can be done within the system and make it work in your facility.   I am also looking forward to the Insight Conference where I hope to network and meet face to face some of those I have met on the website. And a big thank you to all of you that are taking the time to share and ask questions on the site. You are being a great help to us!! Keep it up! We need each other.