The USC Health Sciences Information Technology Department is preparing to transition Cerner from a system managed by Tenet Healthcare Corp. to a USC-managed system. The migration will occur on March 27 and will give USC full control over this system that will eventually serve as a robust, integrated and streamlined Electronic Medical Record (EMR).

The conversion process will begin on March 26 with several departments within the clinical enterprise moving current patient data from the old Cerner system to the new Cerner system. There will be limited access to the old system beginning at 7 p.m. Then, at 10 p.m., the Cerner system will be down for several hours. The new, USC-managed system are excepted to go live at 1 a.m. on March 27. Among the changes coming with this new system is a new patient tracking form for nursing (a training course is available via HealthStream) and a new login process. Usernames and passwords should match those of employees' USC e-mail. More specific instructions on how to login will be available in the coming days.

If you have trouble logging into Cerner, or for any other issues, please call the IT Help Desk at (323) 442-4444 and select "Cerner." A Cerner command center will be located on the second floor of the Doheny Eye Institute, room 2510, the night of March 26. Following this transition, IT officials will enter phase one of the creation of the EMR. This phase will include bringing staff and physicians into the design, testing and implementation of new functions on Cerner such as physician order entry, clinical documentation and medical records. Cerner training for inpatient bedside providers: Physicians, nurses and other staff who provide bedside care are invited to attend a one-hour Cerner Inpatient Demo on March 22. Schedule of classes is as follows:

Acute Care: 6 and 10 a.m., noon and 6 p.m.; Troy Conference Room, third floor, USC University Hospital
Intensive Care: 1 and 2 p.m.; Troy Conference Room, third floor, USC University Hospital
Oncology Care: 4 and 5 p.m., eighth floor conference room, USC Norris Cancer Hospital