Customer service and support teams serve as an important layer between customers (operational leaders and end users) and HealthIT Application teams. They partner with embedded eStar Clinician Champions and Representatives to provide next-level support for important issues. These team members also help deliver education, solve problems, communicate information, and prioritize issues.

A number of mission-critical applications are supported by embedded frontline support specialists. These specialists can immediately triage issues to determine if the problem is hardware, software, network or user-related, and work to bring a quick resolution to minimize any downtime or impact to clinicians, nurses and other patient care staff members.

The Customer Relationship Management (CRM) team members are colleagues with significant clinical and operational expertise who help guide complex HealthIT projects to completion.  CRMs build and maintain strong, collaborative partnerships with customers in clinical and operational areas throughout the Medical Center. 

In addition to extensive collaboration with HealthIT Application teams and the Program Management Office (PMO), CRMs also work closely with Operational Readiness specialists, to make sure high-impact operational changes are successful and have full support of VUMC executives. 

The CRM:

• Analyzes customer needs and requirements
• Prepares requests for governance
• Assists with prioritization
• Serves as customer advocate
• Functions as single point of contact within HealthIT
• Communicates project status
• Manages expectations
• Corrals resources

The Enterprise IT Business Analysis team partners closely with the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) team and the Product Portfolios to better understand requests coming into HealthIT.  Business Analysts work directly with operations to help define/understand business goals and needs that the request is addressing, determining how success would be measured, eliciting business and solution requirements, and identifying potential solutions. 

The Program Management Office (PMO) team within HealthIT provides holistic services for complex HealthIT projects, including in-house developed products and third-party purchased solutions. The team works closely with Customer Relationship Managers (CRM) and business analysts to ensure customer requirements are properly understood and project parameters are clearly defined. They marshal resources, direct teams, and closely manage project plans to deliver solutions on time, within budget, and of the highest quality.  

HealthIT's communications team is responsible for ensuring that end users throughout the Medical Center are well-informed and prepared for changes tied to major HealthIT projects. The team carefully aligns the proper communications strategy and tactics to the overall impact of each project. In addition to these customer communication efforts, the team also oversees internal communications within the 500-person department, as well as engagement with external outlets, including the media.