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Tip: Build communication into your project plan

EHR Connection, May 7, 2007

In addition to your comprehensive EHR plan (i.e., one that includes more than the plan your vendor provides) you should draft a communication plan, suggests Susan Ordway, senior director of HIT services and manager of the Doctors Office Quality Information Technology program for the quality-improvement organization (QIO) Masspro in Waltham, MA. A communication plan outlines how often you will update staff, who will take charge of passing information along, and how information will get to the proper personnel. In other words, your communication plan should explain who, when, and how staff will get the message.

Consider creating a flow chart or diagram to illustrate the communication plan and distribute it to everyone involved.

Involve all staff in the communication plan. Think back to your charter and "do what you say you will do," says Ordway. The moment you fail to follow through with a promise, you will lose respect and risk a stalled project.

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