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Shift to paper-free hospital causes summer trouble

Staff Development Weekly: Insight on Evidence-Based Practice in Education, July 14, 2006

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In the long run, the U.S. Naval Hospital in Japan hopes, the change will improve patient safety at the facility. For now, it's making the summer a sticky time.

The hospital is switching to a new, paper-free record-keeping system that can take up to two months for staff to learn. The extra time spent teaching the staff has created a 40% reduction in appointment availability, hospital officials say. The training on Armed Forces Health Longitudinal Application (AHLTA)-which will eventually turn paper files into electronic ones-will hopefully put an end to lost records at military treatment facilities.

While the switch is beginning to affect hospital customers, it is also impacting workers, as they've been asked to hold off on vacations during the training. Come late summer, replacement doctors and nurse practitioners are slated to begin arriving, hospital officials say.

Source: Stars and Stripes

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