Over the past decade, healthcare organizations have refined their electronic health record workflows, but challenges remain in the areas of data entry, availability, visual display and workflow support, according to the American Medical Association. Unfortunately, providers bear the brunt of these limitations, resulting in a bigger administrative burden and less time spent with patients. This struggle coincides with a period of increasing clinician burnout in the wake of the pandemic.
Those organizations that take an intentional approach to EHR optimization will make themselves stand out. The most successful optimization initiatives balance usability and security without compromising patient safety. Simplifying workflows not only ensures repeatable and predictable outcomes but also removes waste and toil from the healthcare delivery system. Once systems have been standardized, IT teams can begin to pursue integration by enabling technologies including voice recognition and artificial intelligence (AI). This tried-and-true approach has proved effective for organizations that pursue this worthwhile exercise. Finally, and most important, organizations should prioritize data security at all steps of the optimization journey.
Healthcare organizations often fall into two distinct groups: early adopters and the late majority. The early adopters have been on established EHR platforms for a decade or more. The late majority are organizations that have transitioned to a new or replacement EHR in the past five years. There are inherent optimization challenges for both groups. For example, early adopters have had ample opportunity to build workarounds and custom workflows. Workarounds add unnecessary complexity and can create maintenance and support headaches. Organizations in the late majority are dealing with another problem entirely. Using out-of-the-box functionality allows healthcare organizations to quickly go live. But this speed to delivery comes at an expense: Workflows may be effective, but they are not necessarily efficient.
Click the banner below for expert guidance to help optimize your IT operations.