By Sheryl Bushman, DO, FACOOG(D) | SVP, Physician Advisory
It’s not every day that you update your EHR system. Implementing even the most minor changes can pose significant challenges. My role at Continuum Health IT is to help health systems and providers overcome the day-to-day struggles with electronic health records. I assist doctors and other stakeholders in becoming comfortable and savvy with their systems, easing the transition and strengthening processes.
With this blog series, I aim to help health systems and providers avoid common pitfalls and successfully launch their new EHR systems.
Avoiding Pitfalls of New EHR Systems: Accounting for Pre-Existing Workflows
When providers and staff have worked in a health system for a long time, regardless of their role, they may develop workarounds to processes – often as a result of close provider-staff relationships or for added efficiency and convenience. However, these shortcuts may not align with best practices.
When a new EHR system is introduced with standard workflows, these workarounds can become apparent and result in broken processes. For example, nurses may no longer have the same security access to support doctors with patient care, or doctors may no longer refer to other providers outside the healthcare system.
For healthcare providers, this can lead to frustration when old practices no longer fit the new rules of the EHR system. They can experience decreased productivity and an increased risk of errors as they navigate the new system without letting go of outdated practices.
For health systems, overlooking broken workflows has serious consequences, directly impacting patient care. Errors in medication doses, incorrect treatment decisions, and compromised safety due to overlooked details are just a few examples.
Decision Example: “Who Discontinues Old Medications?”
Take this scenario, for example: In your current workflow, nurses have handled medication discontinuation for patients under physician guidance. Over time, this approach has streamlined processes and ensured timely adjustments.
As you transition to the new EHR system, some team members may be accustomed to the old process and need help to adapt to the new system, which does not allow nurses this level of security access to maintain regulatory compliance.
Potential Consequences
Failure to account for and address these workarounds in the new EHR system can lead to unhappy nurses, leaving them confused and frustrated regarding changes in their role responsibilities. This could disrupt workflow efficiency and further jeopardize patient safety.
Proper transition management is crucial to avoid severe consequences for patients or staff. For example, patients may accidentally continue receiving outdated medications, posing the risk of adverse drug reactions or ineffective treatment.
How to Make Better EHR System Decisions
To avoid the pitfalls of transitioning EHR systems, begin by thoroughly understanding the existing workflows within your healthcare organization. Then, compare these workflows to industry best practices to identify gaps, inefficiencies, or workarounds that need to be addressed.
This will require working with the subject matter experts close to the workflows who understand the day-to-day actual practices. They will help you find the pain points and discrepancies where you will need to make changes.
Doing this hard work at the beginning, before you even build the workflow, helps ensure that it’s right the first time and that you don’t have to rebuild the system down the road. That’s why it’s essential to include all stakeholders in the decision-making process, from physicians to nurses and administrative staff.
This way, we can ensure everyone understands their roles and responsibilities within the new system through collaborative discussions and comprehensive training sessions. It’s essential to make sure that the team understands exactly how things will change to ensure a smooth execution.
Schedule a Consultation With Continuum Health IT
Continuum Health IT has the expertise to assist and advise healthcare organizations in all phases of their EHR journey, including new EHR system implementation. Our consultants can share their seasoned perspectives to ask the right questions when evaluating workflows. This saves health systems valuable time and money by getting implementation right the first time rather than fixing broken workflows months later.We have a team of experts who have held operational leadership roles, from clinicians to patient access and revenue, poised to assist your organization in maximizing its talent. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us—we’re always here to help.