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what to expect when switching to electronic health records

Wellness intendance experts propose 6 principles to follow when switching electronic health record systems

Photo of person looking at computer. (Photo by Getty Images)
When switching electronic wellness tape systems, researchers recommend health care providers follow six key guidelines for an easy and safe transition. (Photograph by Getty Images)

As wellness care evolves over the next x years, many providers will switch out their current electronic health record (EHR) arrangement for a new one due to health system mergers or to keep up with the trends. Because EHR switches tin crusade care disruptions, researchers with The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth Houston), U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and Baylor College of Medicine suggest following vi cardinal guidelines for an piece of cake and safety transition.

The paper was published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association.

"When organizations make up one's mind to switch their EHRs we want to make sure it is done in a rubber and constructive manner," said Dean Sittig, PhD, professor at UTHealth Houston School of Biomedical Informatics and lead author on the paper. "If it is not washed correctly, it can lead to substantial loss of health information like someone'due south medical history, medication lists, and so on."

Researchers recommend health intendance providers accept these steps:

  1. Implement a proactive leadership structure that values communication – This means creating a squad of experts in technical and clinical operations to program and monitor activities to oversee the EHR transition and intervene as issues arise. Leaders should as well encourage EHR users to speak up if they perceive something is incorrect and ensure that direction takes them seriously. Frequent communication and feedback will help ensure the EHR content meets clinician needs, thus improving their experience and understanding of their new workflow.
  2. Implement proactive risk cess and testing – Health care organizations should develop robust plans to identify risks before they occur and determine what needs to be modified before making the transition. This preparation helps them get alee to prevent mistakes before risking patient information.
  3. Anticipate and reduce unwarranted variation – Health care organizations should standardize as many EHR settings and clinical workflow processes as possible. This volition reduce training costs, increment interoperability, and improve overall quality.
  4. Institute a culture of conscious research with routine monitoring – It is difficult to know whether the new EHR is working as designed, being used as expected, or leading to unintended agin clinical events. In an endeavour to monitor these outcomes, organizations should monitor key metrics related to safety and take deportment when performance raises business organisation.
  5. Foresee and reduce data access issues – Organizations just starting a new transition should participate in regional and/or national groups to facilitate sharing of information to ensure their patients' data tin be accessible to all of their health care providers.
  6. Support the EHR user workforce – Change can often be difficult to navigate. Health intendance organizations should be prepared to offering support to users in all areas to help with performance and eliminate any frustrations that may occur. Examples include dedicated "protected time" abroad from clinical duties and to attend required training, encouraging clinicians to practice using the arrangement before go-alive, and providing additional one-on-i support to clinicians who keep to struggle.

"These are great lessons everyone tin follow. Switching EHRs is a big bargain. It takes a lot of time and planning, but if it is done right, health care organizations and their staff can avoid costly mistakes," Sittig said.

"The six guidelines increase our ability to anticipate what might go wrong and re-imagine a better way for the system to piece of work before it is implemented," said Hardeep Singh, Doc, MPH, co-author on the paper, a professor of medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and researcher at the Centre for Innovations in Quality, Effectiveness and Safety and Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Heart. "Leaders of health care organizations can use these guidelines to create ownership, resilience, and trust needed to safeguard the universally difficult EHR transition process."

"Having a structure that includes communication, conscious research and user back up is key to success in a time of transition," said Priti Lakhani, DPM, wellness system physician specialist with The MITRE Corporation and co-author on the report.

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Source: https://www.uth.edu/news/story/health-care-experts-propose-6-principles-to-follow-when-switching-electronic-health-record-systems