A structured process can help ease the transition to digital medical record management.
Eighty percent of physicians don't use digital medical-record management, as reported in "The Kansas City Star" in March 2011. Yet, because the government approved $20 billion in federal stimulus money in 2009 to encourage medical offices to switch patient records from paper to an electronic format, the U.S. healthcare industry should increasingly come to rely on electronic records. To make the switch to digital record management as smooth as possible, medical offices should consider a structured process to adopt the new technologies involved.
Instructions
1. Conduct a readiness assessment. Before implementing a move to digital medical-record management, healthcare organizations should determine how receptive staff members are to the change, says the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). ACOG suggests that medical offices survey all office workers about their attitudes and understanding of the proposed change. By doing so, management can more easily identify potential risks -- in the form of cultural and operational barriers -- that may affect the project's chance of success and return on investment.
2. Identify goal, vision and mission. After the readiness assessment is complete, ACOG recommends identifying the relevant goal. For example, is it simply to have electronic medical records, or is it to allow patients and physicians remote access to records from the hospital? Part of the goal-setting involves mapping out the vision. For example, is the vision to have a paperless office, or is it to improve clinical performance? Based on this information, medical practices should decide on a mission statement, which can delineate the scope of the project, potential team members and the specific benefits of successful implementation.
3. Begin measuring. Medical offices should identify and track important parameters related to digital medical-record management, ACOG says. Focus on comparative measurements that will illuminate the differences between the current paper record-management system and the envisioned digital record-management system. For example, record the number of minutes it takes for staff to find a paper chart. Next, identify parameters for improvement via implementation of electronic medical records. Figure out what specific areas should be improved, and by how much.
4. Redesign workflow. With completed readiness assessment, goals and measurements, medical practices can finally begin to evaluate existing workflows for applicability, modification or elimination. ACOG points out that some workflows currently used in the paper environment will no longer be needed and should be jettisoned to make room for the new technologies. With proper design of new workflows that are more relevant to an electronic-management system of records, medical offices should notice improvements in speed and efficiency, and be able to reduce costs, ultimately resulting in improved patient safety and quality of outcomes.
Tags: medical offices, digital medical-record, digital medical-record management, medical-record management, offices should
