Home

  • Home
    • » e-Newsletters

Tip: Simple suggestions aid EHR implementation

EHR Connection, November 5, 2007

Bonnie Kaplan, PhD, FACMI, a lecturer at the Yale Center for Medical Informatics in New Haven, CT, offers these tips to help ensure a smooth transition to an EHR system:

1. Involve staff members in decisions and design related to EHR implementation.

2. Enlist widely respected experts to serve as opinion leaders and to assist in the transition.

3. Work gradually while emphasizing the benefits of planned changes.

4. Assess the situation honestly without hype or pessimism.

5. Listen to feedback, and use these ideas to improve and control the frequency of the changes

6. Observe the interaction of the people, the organization, and the technology.

7. Remember that people are more important than technology, and that the use of technology is the means to an end-improved patient care.

8. Ensure that implementation plans consider what people think about their work and what their roles in the organization mean to them

9. Make evaluation part of the process to monitor progress and identify adjustments necessary to facilitate a smooth transition.

10. Anticipate both expected and unexpected occurrences and consequences.

This tip is brought to you by the November issue of Electronic Health Records Briefing.

Most Popular