Nicole Klaus uses her experience and knowledge to help multiple departments within Rogers

10/21/19 10:38:am

Nicole Klaus is the director of electronic health record optimization strategy with Clinical Technology Services. She oversees the implementation, development, and optimization of computer applications that are used at Rogers.

“Most people will think of Cerner,” Nicole says. “But we also work with the applications that are used by Finance, Human Resources, and other departments.”

Nicole first started at Rogers back in 1995 as a program assistant—a role that is now known as a PCA—while attending college for her nursing degree. “They were willing to give me a chance, and through amazing mentors, I was able to start my behavioral health nursing career here,” she says.

For the next several years, Nicole held multiple roles at Rogers including house supervisor, Talent Development, and clinical services manager. In 2003, she left to work for Epic and later another medical system.

While Nicole says that her experiences away from Rogers were good, they “felt like work” and she missed affecting people’s lives, leading to her return in 2007.

“I came back to Rogers not only because it felt like family; it helped me to really feel like I was making a difference in people’s lives,” she says. “Looking back to 1995, it’s amazing to see how far we’ve come.”

Since her return, she has worked within different departments and roles, first as a pool house supervisor and then as the manager of the adult inpatient program in Oconomowoc. In 2011 she joined CTS and has since held had several roles there.

One thing that excites her about her current role is the chance to showcase Rogers’ successes. Last year, she and Brian Kay, vice president, continuous improvement, spoke at the International HIMSS conference on Rogers’ use of daily huddles to improve the adoption of our EHR.

“It was a huge honor to represent our organization on an international level at one of the largest Healthcare IT conferences in the world,” she says.

Nicole says that CTS is always working to improve the applications that Rogers uses, and be sure that we leverage the councils made up of physicians and other staff who contribute to the development of these applications. If people anyone is interested in participating, Nicole hopes they will reach out, “we are always looking for users to contribute to the improvements of the applications we use!”

Getting to Know Nicole

Nicole’s family is made up of three teenage girls, her husband, and pets. She spends a lot of her free time taking her kids to practice—one to cheerleading and the other to junior roller derby—and cheering them on. She also loves traveling, and her favorite spot is Tybee Island in Georgia.