Article by Software Advice

 By InterOpNurse guest contributor: Austin Merritt from Software Advice

 

By now you’ve heard about the American Recovery and Reinvestment act of 2009 – the stimulus bill recently passed by Congress. If you are a healthcare provider, you can take advantage of the $51 billion that has been allocated to the health care industry, $19 billion of which will be used to promote use of Electronic Medical Records (EMRs). 

This new EMR subsidy has absolutely stimulated demand for EMRs. However, while we don’t like to be pessimists, we’re concerned the subsidies won’t change healthcare providers’ late adopter mindsets about information technology. Providers may jump at “free software” and try to avoid penalties (starting in 2015), but will they:

•    Truly believe in the value of an EHR over traditional paper charts?
•    Take a leadership role in advocating adoption of the new EHR in their practice?
•    Change their old workflows to match the best practices in leading EHRs?
•    Take part in intensive training to learn the new system?
•    Ride out the difficult stages of new software adoption and change management?

Traditionally, the substantial costs of EHR systems keep the luddites from buying technology in the face of these challenges. But with “free” EHR software, we expect more than a few providers to throw caution to the wind, buy an EHR and overlook the critical implementation and change management practices that are critical to success.

In the article, “Get Ready for EHR Failures, But Don’t Blame the Software

” we present 5 critical steps for a smooth, successful EMR implementation. If you follow these major guidelines – and a lot more small steps in between – you’ll have a much greater chance of EMR success.

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This article was written by Austin Merritt from Software Advice, a website that reviews and compares electronic medical records.