Smoothing EHR Implementation

Electronic health records may be all about technology, but people are the key to successful EHR implementation. Botch the "change management" (consultant speak for end user acceptance) and you're doomed.

Tony Ryzinski, senior vice president for marketing at Sage Healthcare, offers 14 suggestions for successfully integrating EHRs into your healthcare organization. The list appears in a recent guest blog for the Health Care POV column published by Advance.

We summarize them here:

• Focus on good patient care, ensuring electronic records have the information providers need to make good choices.
• Listen to feedback, and use it.
• Have a solid financial plan before jumping into EHR implementation.
• Don't expect to save money with EHRs.
• Look at implementation as a logical step in your practice's evolution.
• Get buy-in from all the physician leaders.
• Pick the right people for project leadership roles, basing your decisions on factors including basic knowledge, interest in the project and a positive attitude toward change.
• Provide the necessary training, hardware, space, support and time, and stick to it.
• Start with small steps, and then build on that success.
• Don't overreact to problems.
• Don't make other major changes while EHR implementation is under way.
• Make sure practice leaders are visible, especially during the first two weeks of implementation.
• Train a core group well in advance, provide consistent staff training, and give people time to learn the new system before it goes live.
• Have fun.