Impact of EHR Implementation on Patient Flow
While very efficient when adopted, the initial process of converting to an EHR can be a daunting task. Facing challenges of training personnel and older doctors’ resistance to adopt while simultaneously attempting to keep up patient satisfaction profits is a tremendous responsibility. In this case study, we will examine Doctors Kennebeck, Timm, Farrell and Spooner’s (2012), look at the impact of EHR implementation on patient flow metrics at the Emergency Department of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, an urban level 1 trauma teaching hospital (p.443). The timing of the hospital-wide implementation of EHR coincided with the H1N1 pandemic. In order to attempt to control for the extra …show more content…
Increased wait time could also have been contributed to slow typing and data entry by the providers while getting acclimated to the system (Ford, Menachemi & Phillips. 2006, p.108). Spatial limitations could also have contributed to longer wait times while interacting with patients due to the physician’s physical proximity and accessibility of computers with EHR capability. Another limitation could be the selected EHR program being too intricate or too basic to meet the specific needs of the documenting physician’s encounter (Ford, Menachemi & Phillips. 2006, p.109). Furthermore, the overall usability of the program and the technical ability of the user may present additional barriers. Computer literacy varies by the prior experiences, age of provider and location of the practice. Older physician may prefer paper records instead of attempting to integrate or learn how to use new systems (Lorenzi et al. 2009). EHR can be overwhelming upon first glance. There can be great confusion with all of the multiple screens and a hard to find navigation. The added time to learn how to use the system has an impact on overall efficiency (Lorenzi et al. …show more content…
First of all, I feel that additional EHR personnel training and support will have greater effects on productivity. “Training must be brief, high-quality, closely tied to the point of need, and specifically directed to the practice 's staffing and needs. For the most successful outcomes, training should include a practice version the system (Poon et al. 2004, p. 186).” Next, I would incorporate the hospitals’ existing use of “superusers” but would augment it by hiring and training additional users during the first 2 weeks of the transition. Physicians complained about their post-sale experience with the vendors since they could not always access their vendors when they were in need of technical support (Ajami, Bagheri-Tadi, 2013, p.132). Vendors should be required to offer support during the initial month as well as access to helplines during the transition period. To take the training model one step further, I would suggest bringing in EHR vendors into the hospital for the first month of the adaptation period in order to ensure the navigation is customized and optimized by all medical staff. I believe this method would decrease the turnaround time to much less than 3 months while achieving system optimization in much less than 6 months. While the major downside of these changes is the increase in adaptation period costs, the increased patient turnover and more efficacious use of
While very efficient when adopted, the initial process of converting to an EHR can be a daunting task. Facing challenges of training personnel and older doctors’ resistance to adopt while simultaneously attempting to keep up patient satisfaction profits is a tremendous responsibility. In this case study, we will examine Doctors Kennebeck, Timm, Farrell and Spooner’s (2012), look at the impact of EHR implementation on patient flow metrics at the Emergency Department of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, an urban level 1 trauma teaching hospital (p.443). The timing of the hospital-wide implementation of EHR coincided with the H1N1 pandemic. In order to attempt to control for the extra …show more content…
Increased wait time could also have been contributed to slow typing and data entry by the providers while getting acclimated to the system (Ford, Menachemi & Phillips. 2006, p.108). Spatial limitations could also have contributed to longer wait times while interacting with patients due to the physician’s physical proximity and accessibility of computers with EHR capability. Another limitation could be the selected EHR program being too intricate or too basic to meet the specific needs of the documenting physician’s encounter (Ford, Menachemi & Phillips. 2006, p.109). Furthermore, the overall usability of the program and the technical ability of the user may present additional barriers. Computer literacy varies by the prior experiences, age of provider and location of the practice. Older physician may prefer paper records instead of attempting to integrate or learn how to use new systems (Lorenzi et al. 2009). EHR can be overwhelming upon first glance. There can be great confusion with all of the multiple screens and a hard to find navigation. The added time to learn how to use the system has an impact on overall efficiency (Lorenzi et al. …show more content…
First of all, I feel that additional EHR personnel training and support will have greater effects on productivity. “Training must be brief, high-quality, closely tied to the point of need, and specifically directed to the practice 's staffing and needs. For the most successful outcomes, training should include a practice version the system (Poon et al. 2004, p. 186).” Next, I would incorporate the hospitals’ existing use of “superusers” but would augment it by hiring and training additional users during the first 2 weeks of the transition. Physicians complained about their post-sale experience with the vendors since they could not always access their vendors when they were in need of technical support (Ajami, Bagheri-Tadi, 2013, p.132). Vendors should be required to offer support during the initial month as well as access to helplines during the transition period. To take the training model one step further, I would suggest bringing in EHR vendors into the hospital for the first month of the adaptation period in order to ensure the navigation is customized and optimized by all medical staff. I believe this method would decrease the turnaround time to much less than 3 months while achieving system optimization in much less than 6 months. While the major downside of these changes is the increase in adaptation period costs, the increased patient turnover and more efficacious use of