Electronic records systems can maximize your practice or healthcare facility's efficiency, enhance your productivity, improve patient outcomes, and increase your bottom-line -- when done right.

However, while some practices and facilities have used EHR technology to decrease costs, minimize administrative hassles, and increase revenues while reducing working hours for physicians and staff, others have experienced messy, painful implementations, unexpected costs, reduced productivity, and marginal outcomes. Some have even given up on their systems altogether.

What makes the difference?

How can two healthcare facilities -- implementing the same system, from the same vendor, with the same technical training and support -- wind up with such different results?

"It's funny. There have been so many failures in trying to computerize physician practices and hospitals over the past 20 years. You'd think people would have broken the code by now on why that is happening. While the first systems weren't particularly intuitive and useful to clinicians, it's not software or hardware that has caused most of the failures to get value from technology investments - it's people!

As this wonderfully astute book* says:

'If your staff members aren't willing to change their habits, if they aren't willing to adapt practice workflows to get greater benefits from the technology, and if they actively or passively resist using the technology, even the most ideal system for your practice will never deliver on its potential.'

Don't make the transition to an electronic records system in your practice without this book. It will save you money, save your staff considerable grief, and increase the value and 'meaningful use' you get from the technology."

David E. Garets
President & CEO HIMSS Analytics
Executive Vice President, HIMSS

*Realizing the Promise: How to Maximize the Benefits of Electronic Records in Your Practice

Research has shown, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that healthcare facilities of any size that effectively prepare for and manage the change to electronic records are far more likely to realize anticipated benefits from their systems than those that don't. Healthcare facilities and practices that don't use a cohesive approach to managing the EHR transition - one that includes both attention to the technology and to the human side of change - experience financial losses, wasted time, and a great deal of frustration.*

The good news is, effective preparation, training, and change management don't have to come with an exorbitant price tag. The process doesn't have to be overwhelming and complex. It doesn't have to reduce your productivity and it doesn't have to disrupt your entire organization or overwhelm providers and staff.

The resources on this website will provide you with insights on better coordinating the technical and human aspects of change in your healthcare organization. This will make a smoother, more rapid EHR transition more likely and will enable you to get better outcomes from your system.

*References

1. B. Kaplan and K. D. Harris-Salamone, Health IT Success and Failure: Recommendations from Literature and an AMIA Workshop. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 16:3 (May-June 2009)
   
   
2. N. M. Lorenzi, et. al., How to Successfully Select and Implement Electronic Health Records (EHR) in Small Ambulatory Practice Settings. BMC Medical Informatics & Decision Making. 9:15 (February 2009)
   
   
3. S.H. Fenton, et. al., Essential people skills for EHR implementation success. Journal of AHIMA. 2006 Jun;77(6): 60A-60D