Welcome to Instinct – let’s do this!
We will be supporting your hospital through our Virtual Go-Live Program. Instead of having Instinct teammates on site, we’ll be there virtually every step of the way!
Rest assured that our team is experienced and dedicated to helping you thrive throughout this process! Please consider this your handy guide for a successful virtual install of Instinct.
Overview of Virtual Go-Live
Our Virtual Go-Live Program is designed to mimic us being there in person, ensuring success with Instinct from day one.
To start, we will be mailing you an Instinct Chromebook. This will be used exclusively to have live/on demand video with our expert support team during go-live at set times we’ll determine with you.
Go-Live Video Link & Devices
These Chromebook devices are simple to use and will include instructions for launching video using your unique Go-Live Video Link.
Think of these devices as replacements for us being on site in person. We’ll be on video on these devices on demand with your team. And the devices are durable and meant to be used anywhere in the hospital. They are also insured so your team can use them without concern for damage! At the end of go-live you’ll simply mail them back to us.
Your unique Zoom Go-Live link can also also be used on other devices during go-live. Zoom will be used for video conferencing, phone calls, and webinars. Our team will be available to ask questions and do screen shares during go-live using this link at the designated shift times.
Instinct Live Chat
Instinct also has live chat built into our program. Staff will be able to log in to Instinct and use the chat provided for questions 24/7/365.
Virtual Go-Live Checklist
Finally, we created a checklist for your team to help keep you organized! This includes your key people, training schedules, and more!
We’ll be providing a link to your Go-Live Checklist and unique Go-Live Video room soon.
Preparing for Go-Live
Team Communication Ahead of Go-Live
A well-informed team is the first step towards a successful change.
We recommend sending out announcements to your hospital regularly leading up to go-live and posting signs throughout the workplace about the upcoming change.
Key messaging should include the following points:
- Instinct is a digital treatment plan and will be replacing your current paper treatments (or if applicable, computerized treatment sheets).
- Instinct will not be replacing your hospital practice management software.
- Staff will still be using the hospital’s main software for check in/out processes, medical notes, invoicing, and prescribing medications.
Meet Careville and Designating Superusers
Get to Know Careville: Careville is Instinct’s official training home base containing short videos, training guides, and new feature lists. All superusers and staff should be familiar with this before go-live. We recommend sharing this site and password to all your staff well in advance so they can review all the training before go-live.
Pick a Go-Live Captain: The Go-Live Captain will be the main superuser on your team that leads the transition to Instinct. The Captain will ensure that the staff has reviewed the training materials and scheduled the recommended training (see Go-Live Day below).
Pick a Medical Lead: Your medical lead can be a medical director, lead veterinarian, or assigned veterinarian and may be the same person as the Go-Live Captain. This person will assist and review Instinct Treatment Sheets and supervise the transition including the Medical and Workflow Guidelines.
Pick Other Superusers: Additional superusers will assist the Medical Lead and Captain during go-live. These users should be scheduled to work during go-live and ideally cover all shifts.
Designate Users with Admin Access: Designate those that will have admin access in Instinct. These users will be trusted to configure Instinct settings. The Instinct Support Team will schedule a separate training specific for admin users (see below).
Training Meetings Ahead of Go-Live
Superuser Training: The Instinct Support Team will schedule a separate training for all the superusers and Medical Lead ahead of go-live. This training usually takes 90 minutes and is conducted via video/screen share.
Admin User Training: This training will be geared for your administrators and will include the details about how to configure Instinct’s settings and admin features.
Front Desk Training: Front desk training will be done separately from the superuser and admin training and should include most of your front desk staff. This training is relatively shorter (usually about 30-45 minutes) and will be done ahead of go-live. You may want to consider delegating a front desk lead that will help facilitate and monitor the check in / check out process for the days of go-live.
Require Staff to Watch Careville Videos: We have very short and easy to consume introduction videos to Instinct on Instinct Careville. We strongly recommend all staff are required to watch these ahead of go-live. Administrators can also create a checklist of all staff members and mark down who has reviewed the training materials.
Instinct Installation and Logging In
Instinct should be installed on all your workstations well ahead of go-live and you will receive detailed instructions for this. If you work with a separate IT company, please coordinate with them to have the installation completed and tested at least a week before go-live.
After that, the customer support team will let you know when your database is live and you can log in. This is usually ready at least 5-7 days before go-live and we recommend testing it once we let you know!
Distributing Login Information
All staff members should know their unique login information before go-live. Logins are confidential and should not be displayed for all staff to see. You should decide on a plan to distribute these beforehand.
Staff Scheduling for Go-Live
While not necessary, some hospitals consider scheduling procedures and/or appointments lightly during the first day of go-live.
If training demos are scheduled during the days of go-live, you may want to consider having staff come in if they are scheduled ‘off’ to view the training. Of course, this is also optional especially if staff view the training materials before go-live.
Finally, be sure to schedule the superusers accordingly on go-live days. If your hospital has several departments, you may want to schedule a superuser for each department to assist during the transition.
Day Before Go-Live
Prepare Your Status Boards
The Go-Live Captain should work with your Front Desk Leads to review the check in/check out process of Instinct with the front desk staff.
Head to the Status Board and ensure test patients are moved to the Boarding Board.
Connected Hospitals: If Instinct is connected to your practice software, the Status Board in Instinct can be organized the day before by the front desk staff:
- Please check out any patients that are not in the building that may be showing up on the Status Board. Reminder: check in/out is driven by your main practice software for connected hospitals.
- Organize remaining checked in patients to the correct Inpatient or Outpatient Status Board (IP Board or OP Board). All inpatients should be moved to the IP Board.
- Fill in key information for each patient: Assign at least the reason for visit, doctor, service, and ward to all patients on the Status Board. This may require some guidance from a manager or the medical team.
Unconnected Hospitals: If Instinct is running unconnected from your practice software, patients can be pre-checked-in to Instinct:
- Check in all current in-patients in Instinct.
- Organize remaining checked in patients to the correct Inpatient or Outpatient Status Board (IP Board or OP Board). All inpatients should be moved to the IP Board.
- Fill in key information for each patient: Assign at least the reason for visit, doctor, service, and ward to all patients on the Status Board. This may require some guidance from a manager or the medical team.
Go-Live Day
Morning Kick-Off: We will meet your team in the Zoom Go-Live Room at 9am (or other pre-designated time) to meet with key leadership at your hospital and kick off go-live briefly.
We recommend that front desk staff work to ensure all patients admitted that day (including outpatients) are properly checked in to Instinct on either the OP or IP board and assign the doctor, ward, service and reason for visit during this time.
Training Sessions
Just as we would when on-site, we are available to run training / Q&A sessions with your team on Zoom via a TV or Projector. This is best done in a conference room but can be done on the treatment floor as well! These are optional and we’ll arrange the schedule ahead of time.
Transferring Patients to Instinct: We’ll help your Go-Live Captain and Medical Lead make an organized plan to transfer patients to Instinct starting on the first morning of go-live.
Some Tips:
- Aim to have all patients transferred to Instinct before shift changes begin later in the day. That said, transitioning existing patients must be handled carefully with the goal to transfer patients at a comfortable pace for staff.
- Large hospitals may want to consider transferring patients onto Instinct per department. For example: begin with ICU/Emergency cases, then do Surgery patients, Internal Medicine and so forth.
- Ideally the doctor in charge of each case should be the person to input the orders in Instinct.
- Risk of duplication errors: No patient should ever have a live Instinct Tx sheet and an old sheet at the same time for safety reasons. Once the switch is made for a patient, the team must commit patient by patient. We recommend crossing out hours on the old sheet or removing it from the treatment area completely.
Instinct Team Availability via Chromebooks
We will be available on the Zoom Chromebook for video chatting and help on demand between training sessions. Zoom can be used as a meeting room with the capability to do screen shares and chats.
We are available to remotely assist in transitioning patients onto Instinct and answer questions as they arise. We can provide “on the spot” demos, answer questions, and hang with key teams via these devices as they start the transition.
Instinct support will also be available 24/7/365 for your team through the Instinct chat. There is always someone available to jump in and assist with questions as needed here!
After Go-Live
Daily/Weekly Communication Updates: Many hospitals communicate tips, key learnings, and general workflow information daily or weekly starting on day one of go-live as the team adjusts to Instinct. One way to do this is to try to create a summary of the top 5 main points to cover in each update email.
Recap Meetings
Our customer support team will schedule a recap meeting (usually a day or two after go-live, but at your convenience) with your key leaders. The goal will be to help troubleshoot any issues, discuss feedback on the process, and answer questions as they come up! We’re also available to help with any additional training that is needed.
Instinct Workflow Committee: Many hospitals create a workflow committee to include your Captain, Medical Lead, superusers and designated admins to improve workflow after go-live. The Instinct committee can meet weekly/bi monthly to review workflow processes and any other questions/issues that arise to help streamline the first few months after go-live.
And finally, we’re not going anywhere! Our team will be there for you for months (and years) as Instinct gets better and better with new features and advancements. You can always reach our team via chat or at support@instinct.vet which goes to our entire team at once. Let’s do this!
💡 ProTip: Print and fill out this “Instinct is Coming” flyer to post in the hospital to generate excitement and easily access more information about Instinct and our training guides!