I am getting close to the end of this 10-week blog series about the lessons learned in deploying an electronic health record in the Military Health System. I’ve looked at lessons in workflow, testing, software, hardware, training, cutting the wires, the web and easily computable data. With all factors taken into account, managing the change for maximum buy-in by staff is another area critical to a successful deployment of an EHR.
Empower Your Staff From the Beginning to Feel Ownership of the New EHR
Empowering your staff from the beginning is, without a doubt, critical for successfully deploying an EHR. When the system’s users take ownership and buy-in, they are more willing and even eager for the change. That might sound easy, but it isn’t. Change is difficult within any organization, and changing the manner in which care is documented is no different. Not everyone immediately embraces new technology in their daily activities, so it is crucial to include the workforce at all stages of the decision-making process. The users should be included from the first steps of purchasing and deploying an EHR. The users include not only your physicians, but also the related clinicians, nurses, clerks and administrative support. Change management scholars tell us that you will always have a percentage of staff that will remain change averse and fight against every step of the way. The buy-in from the majority of your staff should help to ensure a successful deployment and long-term acceptance from the system’s users.
Aside from having the medical and administrative staff up and running and happy with an EHR, patients also have to embrace the changes. The patient component is the final topic to examine next week in my last blog of this series.
Week 8: Usable and Easily Computable Data Makes Good Health Care Sense
Week 7: Do Not Constrain Your Medical Providers With Wires
Week 6: Web Hosted Solutions Make Sense for Speed and Redundancy
Week 5: The See One, Do One, Teach One Training Philosophy
Week 4: EHRs Should Be Intuitive
Week 3: Hardware Matters
Week 2: Test Drive Before You Buy
Week 1: Choosing the Right EHR