June 1, 2022
The Front Door for Data and Technology (Front Door) has undergone a major transformation to meet users’ growing demand for data and create a more robust data exploration experience. You’re going to want to bookmark the new Front Door, located on Connect – navigation bar – Tools. The new portal was officially launched on May 25 by the Quality Outcomes & Analytics, Clinical Informatics, and Information Services (IS) teams.
The Front Door was formed in 2017 to serve as Texas Children’s portal for requesting data reports, access to existing reports and dashboards, E-changes (Epic optimizations and other clinical technologies), and computer technology (tools, software and help). In an increasingly data-driven world and organization, a greater demand for data and more desire from users to learn about and use self-service tools drove the need to reimagine the Front Door user experience.
“We formed a partnership six months ago and set out to understand users’ data consumption needs and modify Front Door in a way that will help people help themselves when it comes to data research, reports, technology requests and understanding clinical technologies,” said Dr. Carla Giannoni, Chief Medical Information Officer and Professor, Pediatric Otolaryngology.
The Front Door transformation team includes Dr. Giannoni, Toni Powell-Fontenot, Assistant Director of Quality Outcomes & Analytics, and Ashok Kurian, IS Director of Enterprise Systems.
Among their findings, the team learned that many users are seeking self-service education about nearly everything, including available reports, the components of those reports, and Epic features and functionality. Their main goal for the new site was to create a space to serve all informatics needs, where users can easily find guidance, facts and forms. Each page includes user-friendly summaries, how-to guidance and quick links that will take you where you need to go to get your work done. On Front Door you can:
- access request forms for technology and data reports
- learn about the data request process, all self-service data tools available to you, and how to create robust data requests based on your unique research and reporting needs
- get links to a vast array of credible and valuable external education resources
Tips for navigating Front Door
When you enter Front Door you will get a taste for how the rest of the site works. Quick link icons connect you with the most-used tools and information, such as How to Get Your Own Data, the IS Request Center, and E-Change Request Form. FAQs are available for everything the team could think of to help you connect with the data and tools you need including request status, determining the type of request you need, and learning more about Epic clinical and data features. The Epic Video Library covers everything Epic, ranging from how to use Epic features such as SlicerDicer and Reporting Workbench to help with physician efficiencies such as writing notes. The Epic “It’s Possible” series are 60- to 90-second videos addressing how to work efficiently.
Quick links for common items are cross-referenced throughout the site. For example, you can always build your own unique dashboard or report based on your team’s needs, although “Data, Tools and Access” shows you what type of reports, dashboards and data sources are already available, and allows you to filter them by type, self-service access request required, source, and other helpful information. If you are contemplating whether to “build” or “request” a report that reveals several clinical data points, you might want to review “Thinking About Data: Tools and Access” for guidance. Other helpful quick links include HELP for the IS Service Portal and Quality and Safety Home.
“We appreciate everyone’s patience as we worked with Ashok’s team to migrate from the initial Front Door and construct and launch the new site,” said Fontenot. “We are excited about its functionality and potential, and we encourage you to take a spin, dive in and give us feedback.”
The Front Door will evolve as the team learns of more reports and tools that can help leadership and work teams with insight and forecasting, such as Epic Executive Dashboards.
Welcome in! Reach out to Toni Fontenot or Dr. Carla Giannoni if you have any questions about the new Front Door.