Individual Project-System Implementation

Individual Project-System Implementation

Electronic health records (EHRs) have become more popular in the healthcare delivery industry. EHRs are cost-effective; they improve efficiency, enhance patient-physician relationships, and enhance provider communication (Honavar, 2020). All this aims to improve the quality of healthcare services. An increase in medication-related errors and complex patient needs was the reason for implementing a new EHR system in our organization. For the implementation process to be successful, several processes must be followed. The first step is the creation of an implementation team that is multidisciplinary. The team will consist of physicians, pharmacists, nurses, and administrators, who will educate the remaining staff on EHR usage and identify any challenges in the implementation process. The next step is involving the IT vendor to prepare software and ensure software compliance. Other steps will include determining hardware needs, transferring data, establishing works, and software evaluation.

Select Departments

The two departments selected for this phase of the project are the outpatient department and the pharmacy department. The outpatient department in our facility diagnoses and treats patients without admitting them. This department is critical since it is integrated with the inpatient department and collaborates with surgeons and attending inpatient physicians when transferring patients from the outpatient to the inpatient department. Implementing EHR in this department is thus important since it will enhance the timely collection of patient information at the point of care and improve efficiency and care coordination in a multidisciplinary healthcare team.

EHR utilization in the pharmacy department will help pharmacists with real-time and accurate medication orders and patient information. Pharmacists offer care to patients from all healthcare departments. It is very important to involve pharmacists in the implementation team to allow for multidisciplinary collaboration with nurses and physicians. This will help enhance patient outcomes, reduce medication errors and optimize medication therapy (D’Arrigo, 2018). The needs that have been identified in the pharmacy department are three new computers, cabling wires, one hard disk for data transfer, and staff training. The pharmacy department will benefit from the HER in many ways. It will reduce the time required for data entry, improve efficiency, reduce administrative burden and cost-effectiveness, improve interoperability, improve communication and reduce the risk of human errors.

Training

Even though change is inevitable, humans are afraid of change. Hence, the implementation of this new EHR system may face resistance from the staff since it requires a transition from manual to computer records, which may not be easy (Hemler et al., 2018). Proper training is thus necessary to help in a smooth transition. Training should focus on certain areas. There should be the identification of computer skills of the staff. This will ensure that training is done depending on the computer’s efficiency. The training team should identify super users. These are staff who have high computer literacy and can share their computer knowledge with other staff members. These super-users will train other staff members on how to navigate the new EHR system.

The training team should focus on the relevant areas of the EHR. They should dwell on aspects that the staff members will require and be taught in the basic areas. For example, the outpatient department should be trained on the entry of patient information, while the pharmacy department will be trained on drug selection and order processing. Post-training feedback sessions should also be conducted. This will help to identify areas of improvement. Training is a continuous process, and it does not stop at the implementation stage. It is critical to determine whether the staff can use the EHR system after the implementation stage. The training team should also offer educational material provided by the vendors to guide the staff once training is over.

Vendor Support and Vendor Maintenance

The vendor must fit the organization’s needs, and hence, it is important to ask them questions to do this. Some of the questions will include the size of the employees in the organization. The vendor should have enough employees to meet the needs of the organization and provide post-implementation vendor support. The organization should also inquire about the previous clients of the vendor. This will help to get references from these clients to see whether the vendor can be reliable. Another inquiry should be on data-securing strategies. The organization should inquire what the vendor would do in case of a data breach or any data encryption strategies.  In addition to this, questions concerning EHR software should be asked. The organization should ask how often the vendor updates their software and whether it runs smoothly during the update. Finally, the organization should inquire how the software helps in patient flow. This question is essential since EHRs have patient information, and hence, it is important to have an efficient system.

Vendor support is important in the implementation of the EHR system. Vendor support should be done even after the implementation of the system. Contact support should be provided for users who may have inquiries about the new system; technical support should also be offered if any problem arises. This support can be done through the phone or online. There should be no time limit on the support since issues can arise at any time. The administrators will handle the vendor support. Vendor support will ensure that the system is updated and works efficiently. Vendor support affects the quality of patient care. If the EHR users cannot effectively use the system, it will negatively impact patient care.

References

D’Arrigo, T. (2018). EHR usability and safety issues demonstrate the need for pharmacist involvement. Pharmacy Today, 24(6), 7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ptdy.2018.05.005

Hemler, J. R., Hall, J. D., Cholan, R. A., Crabtree, B. F., Damschroder, L. J., Solberg, L. I., Ono, S. S., & Cohen, D. J. (2018). Practice facilitator strategies for addressing electronic health record data challenges for quality improvement: EvidenceNOW. The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, 31(3), 398-409. https://doi.org/10.3122/jabfm.2018.03.170274

Honavar, S. (2020). Electronic medical records – The good, the bad and the ugly. Indian Journal of Ophthalmology, 68(3), 417. https://doi.org/10.4103/ijo.ijo_278_20

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Individual Project-System Implementation

Assignment Overview
Unit 5 – Individual Project

ASSIGNMENT DESCRIPTION
Deliverable Length: 3-4 pages

OBJECTIVES

Key Assignment Final Draft

There is another health information project starting within the facility, and you have been assigned a role with that project. However, it would be best if you left guidance for the departments you’re currently working with so that they can continue moving forward with the EHR implementation. Also, the executive team would like a final assessment of your work with the different departments. For this assignment, please address the following in 3-4 pages:

• Choose 2 departments in your facility and describe the specific needs that they have requested that will help enhance their work after the implementation of the electronic health record (EHR).
• Discuss what training will need to be done prior to implementation.
• What type of vendor support and vendor maintenance will you need after implementation? How long will this be needed?

APA references must be present for all sources used.