Medical practice - EMR Readiness Assessment

There is no doubt that electronic medical records, and successfully implemented correctly, are valuable clinical asset in any medical practice. Their benefits to cut costs, rationalization of work, improving health care practices and increasing productivity are undeniable. However, we have heard stories on the story and not deinstallations implementation of these systems across the United States. According to a study conducted by HealthLeaders-InterStudi that "the state of Arizona and the Phoenix area has experienced high rates of adoption of electronic medical records, but it was followed by" dismantling "of technology."

What should physicians and practices to prevent and avoid such a failure? To thoroughly answer this question, we must start at the beginning of the process of changing from paper to electronic. It is very important that everyone involved to understand the implications and consequences of this very important change. The practice of profiling and assessment of the readiness and acceptance and adoption of new technology is the first step to ensure the successful implementation of EMR Software well before deployment.

In this first article of a series of future articles, we will focus on what is included in the performance of EMR Readiness Assessment and a brief explanation of each task. These tasks are the foundation for the needed changes and the necessary training and support, as the EMR implementation process takes place.

* Evaluation of practice culture
Understanding of the office culture and capacity for change is considered a major factor in successful implementation of EMR. Cultural assessment includes:
About Staff readiness to accept change and to be able to change the way they do things.
Any change in the flow and processes and its impact on how staff communicate with each other.
The degree of resistance to change - real or perceived.
The cause of the resistance and possible remedies.

* Assessment of the practice of technical possibilities
About determine the current level of technical skills. You may find some of your employees are technologically less educated than others. It is important to determine their level of skills will help you design a training program so that all the necessary level of capacity before the implementation of EMR software.
About EMR to determine the influence of technical support, the existing network, including hardware servers and workstations, remote access, and your current practice management systems and changes and costs required.

* Assessment of the operational changes
The Front Office - Receptionist, patient scheduling, check-in, check out, processing insurance information, etc.
The nurses - interaction with patients, interacting with doctors, etc.
the administrative and back office - coding, billing and accounting.
The Doctors - enter the information meeting, dictation, medications, test results etc.

* Estimate budget costs, storage and return on investment
Estimated to disrupt the deployment of the EMR business practices and cash flow for 9-12 months from the time of implementation.
About determine the impact and costs of obtaining the EMR to your budget.
The identification of impact on their patients the volume and revenue.
The estimate of lost productivity practices during and after the transition to EMR
About Assess the impact on accounts receivable and decrease in cash.
About Identify areas of savings and cost reductions as a result of engagement EMR.
About Identify positive and negative impact on the bottom line practices.

EHR Software