A Health System's Pilot Experience with Using Mobile Social Knowledge Networking (SKN) Technology to Enable...

In fall 2016, a two-year grant was secured from AHRQ, to pilot a mobile Social Knowledge Networking (SKN) system on Electronic Health Record (EHR) Medication Reconciliation (MedRec), to enable Augusta University (AU) Health System, to progress from "limited-use" of EHR-MedRec technology, to "meaningful-use." The rationale is that an SKN system would enable knowledge exchange on practice issues related to EHR-MedRec, across diverse provider subgroups and settings-of-care, which, in turn, is expected to increase provider engagement, promote inter-professional learning of best-practices, and provide a foundation for practice change (e.g., Meaningful Use of EHR-MedRec technology). Over a one-year period, 50 SKN Users (physicians, nurses, and pharmacists from outpatient-and-inpatient-medicine services), participated in discussing issues-related-to-EHR-MedRec, moderated by 5 SKN Moderators (senior administrators). This paper describes the health system's experiences with this pilot initiative; and discusses lessons learned, in regard to the potential of a mobile SKN system to enable Meaningful Use of EHR-MedRec technology.