UH Epic Critical Change Ahead: In Basket

UH Clinical Update | November 2022

Epic In Basket is a secure, message-based task system within the UH Epic electronic health record (EHR) that is designed to streamline communication and coordinate care. In Basket will significantly improve the way caregivers communicate with patients and with each other. In Basket will be an important element of Epic training, but you can get a head start by learning more now. It will be vital upon go-live that all caregivers understand the message types and workflows within In Basket so no clinical communications are lost.

In addition to sending messages between caregivers, In Basket gathers and routes messages directly from patients to a clinical pool and automatically creates messages whenever action is needed. In Basket serves many clinical functions, such as tracking open telephone encounters, allowing providers to review patient results, and corresponding with patients through MyChart.

With Epic In Basket you can:

• Open charts, write notes, place orders and perform other follow-up directly from a message.
• Set up Quick Actions to streamline common workflows and reduce clicks.
• Share access to your In Basket for backup coverage and post out of office messages when unavailable for an extended time.
• Receive an In Basket message when another health system cares for one of your patients.

In Basket also organizes messages by the follow-up needed and the caregivers who need to receive the message. For example, the system generates one type of message to return a patient’s phone call and another type to review patient test results, and this process is streamlined by filtering message types into specific folders for that type of task.

You will learn more about In Basket in Epic training. However, a majority of experience with this tool will come after go-live, when it is possible to manage a real-life flow of messages and tasks based on your own unique workflow. Caregivers should anticipate the need to hone their In Basket skills during the time immediately after go-live.

While it is difficult to model the experience of managing In Basket in a training environment, learning as much as possible about the structure and features of In Basket before go-live will be beneficial. Watch this Epic weLearning for an Overview of In Basket. You can also watch Replies & Notes from In Basket to see how you can add these items to a patient’s chart without leaving your In Basket.

As a reminder, initial wave caregivers should be registering for training now. The deadline to register is December 15. All assigned training is mandatory; access to UH Epic will not be granted until training is successfully completed. Visit the Training and Education page for more information and step-by-step instructions.

To learn more visit it.uhhospitals.org/Epic or email Epic@UHhospitals.org.