Vision Statement

To increase the footprint of nursing informatics throughout UCSF Health and improve the engagement of frontline staff in Clinical Information System maintenance and improvement efforts

Program Overview

Informatics Champions (ICs) will spend approximately 8 - 12 hours each pay period from August through May learning about Lean and Design Thinking methodologies, contributing their knowledge of departmental clinical workflows to ensure that Clinical Information Systems (CIS), including the Electronic Health Record (EHR), are thoughtfully designed and provide a positive usability experience and focusing on an improvement project. In their capacity as liaisons and consultants, ICs collaborate with clinical stakeholders, Informatics colleagues, and Clinical Systems teams to make appropriate recommendations and provide input for improvements while increasing their knowledge of Clinical Information Systems and APeX change processes and content.

Duties of the ICs will include the following:

Representing the interest of their care area and serving as a subject matter expert in clinical workflows
Developing a project to optimize the use of APeX with the assistance of the NI team
Advocating for best practice needs and helping centralized Clinical Nurse Informaticists (CNIs) and Clinical Systems (CS) teams to optimize and standardize clinical workflows
Attending governance meetings
Assist with design, content validation, testing, and development of education material and training
Presenting project to UCSF Health leadership and staff

Employees working in the APEX My Chart-dedicated conference room

Clinicians and patient in a bed using video conferencing

Three pillars of user satisfaction include strong user mastery, shared ownership, and meeting unique user needs

Executive Sponsors

Pat Patton

Pat Patton MSN, RN

Chief Nurse Executive UCSF Health

Kay Burke

Kay Burke, MBA, BSN, RN, NE-BC

Chief Nursing Informatics Officer

Art Dominguez, Jr.

Arthur (Art) Dominguez Jr., DNP, MSN, RN, CENP

Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) and Vice President for UCSF Health Adult Services

Judie Boehmer

Judie Boehmer, MN, RN, NEA-BC, FABC

Chief Nursing Officer, UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals

Vice President of Children’s Nursing Services for UCSF Health

Informatics Champions 2022-2023

Aina Gagui

Aina Gagui, RN II, BSN

Pediatric Acute Care Float Pool, BCH Oakland

Camron Scott

Camron Scott, RN

Pediatric Brain Center

Graciela Espinoza

Graciela Espinoza, MSN, RN, OCN

Adult Infusion Center-Comprehensive Cancer Center

Art Dominguez, Jr.

John Sedgwick, MN, RN, OCRN, CCRN

Parnassus MICU

Kat Kennifer

Kat Kennifer, MSN, RN

PCICU, BCH San Francisco

Melinda Lojo

Melinda Lojo, RN

Endoscopy

Molly Murphy

Molly Murphy, OTD, OTR/L

11/12L - Oncology, Parnassus

Sophia Busacca

Sophia Busacca, BSN, RN, CNRN, SCrn

8 Long Neurosciences

Stephania Perez

Stephania Perez, RN, MS

Patient Placement/Transfer Center

Melinda Lojo

Thomas McMahon, RN

Preop/PACU, Outpatient Surgery Center

Eligibility

To be eligible for the program, applicants must meet the following criteria: 

Required

Minimum of 3 years of experience in current care area
Minimum of 1 year of employment at UCSF Health
Employed at 50% or more time base in direct patient care. You must remain in this position/role for the duration of the program.

Who:

Nurses in ambulatory, inpatient, perioperative and procedural care areas
Occupational Therapists, Physical Therapists, Speech Language Pathologists
Demonstrates readiness for leadership and strong interest in informatics
Able to commit up to 24 hours per month (max of 12/pay period)
Interest in and identified area(s) of focus with an Informatics related project
Support from direct supervisor to participate who identifies applicant as a team player with good written and verbal communication, interpersonal skills, and an employee who meets or exceeds expectations on their performance evaluation

Highly Desirable

Experience leading or championing change
SuperUser experience
Active participant in unit and/or health system council(s)
MS/MSN with Informatics focus

Application Process

Applications to the program in the 2022 - 2023 cycle closed on June 12th. The CNI team will review each application and score it using a standard rubric. All applicants will be notified by July 15th regarding the status of their application so that they can plan accordingly. Applicants should plan to be off for program dates before applying to be sure they are available should they be accepted.

Please email [email protected] with questions.

Prospective Informatics Champions will submit applications online and include details about the following:

Interest in informatics and the champion role
Describe goals for your time as an Informatics Champion
Informatics, Super User or Champion experience
Current participation in unit/health system councils and/or projects
Identify an EHR or workflow issue to solve and potential thoughts on how to solve it

Applicants are encouraged to describe their commitment to the organization and our mission, citing specific actions and examples where appropriate. Interested applicants should plan time off for the dates listed below. Actual schedules must be negotiated and agreed upon between the champion and champion’s supervisor on a month-to-month basis based on the scope of work that needs to be accomplished, along with expected meeting attendance. Staff will be paid straight time only; overtime is not approved for Informatics Champion training experiences or project work. Additional significant dates to come once the program starts.

Interested in the program but don't qualify? Click to Let us know!

Important Dates

Tuesday, August 30th from 1 - 5pm: Informatics Champion Welcome, Orientation and NI Team Meeting (In person)
Thursday, September 29th from 9am - 12:30pm: Lean Overview
November 13 - 18th: Various hours will be scheduled ahead of time to help support staff and round during the APeX Upgrade
Standing Meetings (Regular attendance expected for the duration of the program):
Starting September 12th from 10 - 11am, every 2nd and 4th Monday for Nursing Informatics Committee
Starting September 20th, 4 - 8 hours, every 3rd Tuesday for APeX Office Hours (as relevant to your role/work), time for project work/meetings, Nursing Informatics Team Meeting with Informatics Champions

Clinicians gathered in a room and having a discussion

Matching Process

Champions will 'matrix' report to a member of the Nursing Informatics team based on the project area of focus and/or area of impact. This team member will act as a mentor and liaison and will meet monthly with the Informatics Champion.