How to Implement an EHR System

Dealing with change can be difficult, to say the least. In a clinical set-up, where timing is everything, converting to a new operating system while ensuring none of the routine work suffers may even be traumatic. That's why it's often found that the best of EHR systems generate the most vociferous resistance. A systematically implemented EHR system, however, can work wonders for the efficiency of the organization. It will transform the very way the clinical practice functions, resulting in lower administrative costs. It will ultimately translate into an increased revenue inflow.

Things You'll Need

• EHR system
• Conference hall
• Computers
• Medical equipment

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Instructions

• 1

  Formulate a work group. Select representatives from each area of the practice -- medical, technical support, administration and other relevant areas. Make sure you've chosen people who are familiar with the operating systems currently used and who know the ins and outs of the day-to-day routines. These are going to be the key staff to see the implementation through.

• 2

  Select a "physician champion." Find a physician who's enthusiastic about implementing the EHR system. Make him or her the leader of the work group. Provide the physician with information and the means to talk to other reluctant participants. It will be his or her responsibility to encourage other doctors to make sincere efforts to implement the system.

• 3

  Create a work plan. Have work group meetings. Discuss, develop and document a suitable work plan. List the tasks to be achieved, allot responsibilities and specify realistic time frames for completion of each task. Also set out the decision-making chain and make sure everyone understands who should be contacted to clarify details regarding the respective steps. Divide implementation into phases covering different aspects of the work flow. Specify dates when each phase will begin.

• 4

  Set up additional systems. Find out if doctors have special requirements, such as interfacing their hardware with the EHR system. You may need to ask the vendor who installed the system to step in to integrate instruments like an echocardiogram or arthroscopic devices with the particular cardiology or orthopedic EHR systems.

• 5

  Train staff. Hold classroom sessions to provide training on using the EHR system. Make sure the staff realizes that it's not just new software that will run by itself. Emphasize the need for patience with initial hitches during the changeover to a new IT system. Explain how the system will make paper charting redundant, and also explain the advantages of such a system -- no duplication of charts and easy access to the latest patient data anytime and anywhere.

• 6

  Hold trial runs. Carry out simulated trial runs to help staff get used to handling the system. Make use of these trials to identify changes that need to be made to the normal routine work flow.

• 7

  Begin implementing the system. Adopt phases of the EHR system on the dates specified in the work plan. Document feedback regarding what went right and what did not. Have work group meetings and find solutions to resolve specific issues.