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Procedure for Implementing Electronic Medical Records

Key to developing a procedure for implementing electronic medical records is creating a team to manage the process. Team members should not only include information technology specialists, but also physicians, since they are likely to encourage and lead a successful adoption process. The team should then create a plan of action for going paperless. That plan will cover a vast number of tasks such as facility modification, work flow analysis and redesign, and training.

  1. The Team

    • Implementation of an electronic medical records (EMR) system is a huge task that demands a strong team to provide leadership, planning and direction. One physician who has led such a process, a professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-M) and a family physician, suggested in an article for the journal Family Practice Management that the team must include representatives from information services, a project manager who can devote substantial time to coordinate the process, a clinic office manager and a physician who will champion the project to ensure success.

    Plan

    • Once a strong team is established, the group should set goals, then steps in the process that support the end-goal of going paperless. Some of the tasks the team must undertake include work-flow analysis and redesign, a modification of the facility, hardware installation and software configuration, creating a backup system in the event of emergencies, how old data will be entered, disposal of paper and staff training. While some of these tasks will need to occur simultaneously, it's wise to create a time line of events, leading to a go-live date.

    Technology

    • The team will be tasked with picking hardware and software that's best for the health care practice or institution. Various devices will be needed depending on the users. For example, nurses and doctors may need terminals to input data while administrative staff also require scanning equipment to scan in existing records and correspondence. The team can initiate the process by visiting other health care facilities with installed EMR systems to observe how they work. The UW-M physician who led an EMR implementation advises using an information technology consultant to help guide the process.

    Go Live

    • All of the planning, research and establishment of procedures will lead to a go-live date. Schedule this jumping-off-point on a day that's not normally the busiest for a doctor's office or hospital if possible. For example, Mondays are often busy days at health care facilities. Then, make sure technology specialists are at hand to help health care workers walk through the live process on that first day and to remind them of what they learned in training sessions. It's also advisable to inform patients of the transition so that they will be aware in case there are delays or technological difficulties.

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