In continuation of our five-part whitepaper series addressing the ROI of your EHR, today, we look at how integrating an EHR into existing office workflows will accelerate profitability gains from your initial EHR investment.
For practices considering a new or replacement EHR, a major element to tackle is optimizing the implementation and training processes needed to speed up time to value.
Implementing a system as complex as an EHR can bring with it unforeseen expenses. And while Meaningful Use incentive programs are meant to help remedy that expenditure, some experts argue the money covers only a fraction of the system’s actual cost.
The key is to strategically tackle the EHR implementation process by focusing on two key things: 1) Ensuring strong EHR integration into existing workflows, and 2) Making EHR implementation a team effort.
Ensuring strong EHR integration into existing workflows
In 2011, the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) released a study on physicians’ worst fears regarding the EHR adoption process. Its results soon went viral. All in all, 78% of respondents said they feared productivity loss during the implementation process, and 67% worried this loss would carry over after completing the process.
A loss of productivity would invariably translate into a loss of profitability. By contrast, whenever antiquated paper processes have been replaced by paperless solutions in other industries, productivity levels have gone up.
As a result, practices should focus less on redesigning workflow and more on optimizing the use of EHRs within existing ones, in and beyond the chart. Currently, medical practice workflows often focus on charts and the individuals who guide them through the office – from preparation to registration, from nurse to physician and biller.
In pre-EHR practices, many processes were carried out mentally. To ensure they remain intact once an EHR is in place, it is important to map them out beforehand. It is also important for physicians and their staff to keep patients in mind – how they experience their visits and what can be improved.
Lastly, practices should create clear outlines of their new, enhanced workflows and review for areas of potential improvement. These outlines should pinpoint the sources of errors, bottlenecks, and possible communication delays, and discern what can be remedied as part of EHR-related automation.
In short, achieving greater familiarity with a practice’s pulleys and gears is beneficial. Outlining processes and workflows underscores what physicians and staff members need to see in an EHR, minimizes surprises, and can uncover opportunities to improve the experience for practices and patients alike – with both revenue and cost benefits.
Check back next week for the fourth installment of our whitepaper review series focusing on the three key elements to improving the ROI of your EHR.
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