To-do Checklist for Successful EHR Implementation

For those planning to implement an electronic health record (EHR) system in their healthcare organization, here’s a checklist. A study published in JAMIA has found that enterprising leadership, physician engagement, and workflow-specific education are the prime factors behind successful EHR implementation.

• Reduce burden: The study authors said that choosing the best EHR system will help healthcare organizations abreast with the advanced EHR-related regulations and reduce the physician burden. The administration should make sure that physicians are not only involved in EHR planning but also its configuration, they added.
• User interface: “Clinicians are used to their daily workflows based on specific screens and content within the user interface of their existing EHR, but many of these workflow processes will be disrupted by the new EHR user interface displays, content, and navigation pathways as well as variations in adoption rates for these new workflows by the larger care team,” the authors explained, adding that the authorities who engage clinicians in EHR planning help in using the system to meet the needs of users.
• Risk assessment: At times, EHR execution results in shortcomings that skirt safety procedures like an organization will have to change existing mechanism for adopting the new system. “Proactive risk assessment, or the identification of potential risks before they occur with a goal of either mitigating their impact or preventing them from occurring, is thus essential,” the authors said.
• Best strategy: According to the authors, the best master plan for assessing risks is to have useONC’s Safety Assurance Factors for EHR Resilience Guides to spot safety issues linked to the EHR system.
• Reduce variation: Organizations should systematize EHR features and productivity to prevent unnecessary variation within the system and avoid allowing doctors to create personalized order sets. “Organizations should anticipate similar unwarranted variations related to EHR design, development, configuration, and use,” the authors wrote. “These variations worsen the quality and increase the cost.”