Electronic health records are competent, digital versions of patient charts that can be updated in real-time with necessary accessibility. The valuable information that is collected via EHR workflows helps in improving patient outcomes and diagnostics. It helps in aiding the clinical decision-making process and streamlining them to reduce time-intensive requirements.
The EHR implementation usability according to recent reports, found that over 75% of providers professed EHR workflows enable in delivery of better patient care services. In this article, we will be focusing on the EHR best practices for hospitals and healthcare organizations. This can enable healthcare industries to deliver the best possible stages of patient care holistically and enhance patient engagement.
EHR Implementation Checklist for Clinical Features
The basic purpose of the EHR implementation process is to provide providers, physicians, and clinicians with undisturbed real-time accessibility to patient health records. Preferably cloud-based EHR systems have the necessary tools and expertise to allow streamlining clinical workflows in healthcare for admin work for providers.
EHR systems also offer personalization and integration options to fit the need of the facility or organization. The EHR implementation checklist for clinical features includes
Next, let’s take a look at the EHR evaluation process before we learn about the EHR best practices.
EHR Evaluation Process Streamlining Healthcare Workflow
The EHR workflows and implementation may face difficulties due to complex clinical workflows in healthcare, lack of integration, poor display of data, and other such concerns. These can be eliminated or managed by carrying out pre and post-EHR implementation assessments. There are a few methods your business can follow to help you conduct EHR evaluation seamlessly.
Methods to Follow for EHR Evaluation
- The Formative Method
The formative method of EHR implementation ensures that the EHR systems in your organization satisfy the organizational need or it doesn’t. There are a few points to consider when following the formative method:
- The financial impact of the EHR implementation.
- Effectiveness of EHR technologies.
- Organizational problems can hinder the EHR evaluation process.
- Summative Method of EHR Evaluation
The summative method of EHR evaluation includes conducting risk assessments, review analysis, and system performance testing. This helps in comparing business goals to receive the actual outcomes. The NASA task load index can help in checking the intellective workload that decides the required resources for task completion.
- Heuristic Method of EHR Evaluation Process
The heuristic method of EHR evaluation helps in identifying the problems with the UI. it requires the organization to form a team of 3-5 technical experts. They are then liable for finding the right issues and the rate of complexity on a scale of 1-5 with 1 being the minimum. The heuristic method also derives the professional evaluators for getting accurate results through EHR workflows.
Now, let’s take a look at the top EHR best practices to implement for your healthcare organization.
EHR Best Practices to Implement for Your Business
Value-based care models in the healthcare sector are becoming increasingly popular across hospitals and choosing EHR best practices to optimize their clinical workflow in healthcare. A survey showed that more than 76% of large healthcare practices and practitioners are eager to make the necessary updates to their EHR technology platforms. These updates ensure certain steps to take before EHR implementation for a seamless adoption.
It’s time to learn the top EHR best practices to improve clinical workflows in 2024 and see how EHR workflows can streamline, maximize, and enhance patient care quality and efficiency with improved care coordination.
Planning Before the EHR Implementation
Before implementing EHR workflows, it is necessary to invest in a clear and transparent planning process. For meeting the optimal outcome criteria, it is essential to pay attention to the bigger picture for intricately determining the minute details. Keeping communication lines for stakeholders, identifying the necessary resources, establishing a project timeline, and tracking the checkpoints are the first initial steps of drafting an EHR implementation plan. While you plan to build an EGR program and run it, it is an integral part to keep in mind the processes your teams are in charge of. Understanding the current clinical workflow and process helps in tailoring the right EHR workflow for your organization. These processes are
- Patient scheduling
- Messaging management
- Patient check-ins
- Patient placement in designated rooms
- Conducting necessary exams and tests
- Renewing and/or prescribing medications
- Patient check-outs
Using these can be your starting point to plan your EHR implementation systems for faster adoption.
Implementation of EHR to Leverage Patient Communication Technology
The implementation of the right EHR technologies, like point-of-care carts and more, can help minimize patient wait times and reduce labor-intensive administrative tasks. These technologies offer different ways for providers to communicate with patients while inputting patient data. Additionally, it is an easy positioning for screens, clinicians can use the medical workstations for storing their equipment. This further helps providers from leaving their patients to reach for something. Implementation of EHR streamlines the entire workflow methodically.
By leveraging technology, one can further use it to aid a combination with EHRs. together, technology and EHR can be useful teaching tools when information like lab results, radiographic images, etc are needed to be shared. Patients can easily visualize their concerns through these references. When technology is involved, one of the biggest takeaways is to make sure that it works as an assistant rather than a barrier.
EHR Implementation Process combining Technology for Medical Devices and Workstations
According to a recent survey, more than 49% of providers’ working time is spent interfacing with EHR workflows. For every hour of hospital and clinical work, providers spent a minimum of two hours on EHR-associated work which is completed on a desktop. This, hence, increases the cost, inefficiencies in workflow, physician burnout, inaccurate information, and delays.
One of the best ways to offer flexibility to providers and keep them from sitting in the office is by utilizing the technology workstations and mobile computer carts solution. This helps in putting data in the EHR cysts at the provider’s fingertips seamlessly and swiftly by documenting the health information on the spot. Both mobile workstations and non-power carts working on batteries provide much-needed flexibility to providers and aid patients in inputting the data into the EHR.
EHR Development for Improving Care Coordination
EHR development help in automating the communication process by enabling providers and clinicians to access patient data digitally. Care team members located in different regions can access patient data and communicate about a patient’s care individually. The communication factor can reduce expenses and ease the burden on patients and providers by eliminating duplicate or unnecessary tests and treatments. Digital data also minimizes the risk of human errors, especially when providers have limited time to offer handwritten notes. Hence, EHR development aids in improving care coordination and communication between patients and providers.
Identifying Inefficiencies in Clinical Workflows in Healthcare and Improving Them
Clinicians and providers require certain tools that are precise and required in clinical workflows in healthcare to offer the best possible care to patients. Professional burnout has been on the rise, and patent engagement and satisfaction are now more essential than ever. Healthcare players need best practices for EHR workflows. The final step of using electronic health records is to improve a healthcare organization’s workflow once EHR workflows are completely integrated into your organization. After its implementation, it is recommended to evaluate where it lies on your list of expectations. Once you are comfortable with the EHR technology platform and program, it will be easier to tweak and improve the clinical workflows in healthcare organizations.
This final step is ever-evolving. Once your hospital or healthcare organization changes and workflows are improved across other fields, the EHR implementation checklist will experience more changes. To keep up with these changes, it is recommended to introduce new goals and establish new technological fixes to secure the future of electronic health records in your system.
Bottom Line,
Improving clinical workflows in healthcare while EHR workflows are in the process is a necessary procedure. It enables providers and nurses to work seamlessly and swiftly while delivering quality patient care. Knowing the best practices of EHR workflows helps in improving your hospital or healthcare organization system and can make a difference between technological changes for staff and the establishment of new tools to utilize daily. Especially, when it is combined with mobile computer workstations.
Author's Bio
Dr. Kedar has more than 12 years of experience in the healthcare domain. She advises Mobisoft Infotech in healthcare-related matters.
