Taming the EHR (Electronic Health Record) - There is Hope.

With increasing diffusion of EHR technology over the last half decade, clinician burnout is rising. As healthcare is a complex and highly regulated field, the rapid and mass adoption of EHR technology has created disruption for highly skilled workers such as clinicians. Although, much has been written about dissatisfaction with the EHR (electronic health record), a paucity of immediate solutions exists in the literature. This article suggests three actionable steps health systems and clinicians can make to expedite gains from and mitigate the effect of the EHR on clinical practice.

Clinical Informatics Fellowship Programs: In Search of a Viable Financial Model: An open letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

In the US, the new subspecialty of Clinical Informatics focuses on systems-level improvements in care delivery through the use of health information technology (HIT), data analytics, clinical decision support, data visualization and related tools. Clinical informatics is one of the first subspecialties in medicine open to physicians trained in any primary specialty. Clinical Informatics benefits patients and payers such as Medicare and Medicaid through its potential to reduce errors, increase safety, reduce costs, and improve care coordination and efficiency. Even though Clinical Informatics benefits patients and payers, because GME funding from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has not grown at the same rate as training programs, the majority of the cost of training new Clinical Informaticians is currently paid by academic health science centers, which is unsustainable. To maintain the value of HIT investments by the government and health care organizations, we must train sufficient leaders in Clinical Informatics. In the best interest of patients, payers, and the US society, it is therefore critical to find viable financial models for Clinical Informatics fellowship programs. To support the development of adequate training programs in Clinical Informatics, we request that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issue clarifying guidance that would allow accredited ACGME institutions to bill for clinical services delivered by fellows at the fellowship program site within their primary specialty.

The value of clinical teachers for EMR implementations and conversions.

Effective physician training is an essential aspect of EMR implementation. However, it can be challenging to find instructors who can present the material in a clinically relevant manner. The authors describe a unique physician-training program, utilizing medical students as course instructors. This approach resulted in high learner satisfaction rates and provided significant cost-savings compared to alternative options.

Successful physician training program for large scale EMR implementation.

End-user training is an essential element of electronic medical record (EMR) implementation and frequently suffers from minimal institutional investment. In addition, discussion of successful EMR training programs for physicians is limited in the literature. The authors describe a successful physician-training program at Stanford Children's Health as part of a large scale EMR implementation. Evaluations of classroom training, obtained at the conclusion of each class, revealed high physician satisfaction with the program. Free-text comments from learners focused on duration and timing of training, the learning environment, quality of the instructors, and specificity of training to their role or department. Based upon participant feedback and institutional experience, best practice recommendations, including physician engagement, curricular design, and assessment of proficiency and recognition, are suggested for future provider EMR training programs. The authors strongly recommend the creation of coursework to group providers by common workflow.

Rapid implementation of inpatient electronic physician documentation at an academic hospital.

Electronic physician documentation is an essential element of a complete electronic medical record (EMR). At Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, a teaching hospital affiliated with Stanford University, we implemented an inpatient electronic documentation system for physicians over a 12-month period. Using an EMR-based free-text editor coupled with automated import of system data elements, we were able to achieve voluntary, widespread adoption of the electronic documentation process. When given the choice between electronic versus dictated report creation, the vast majority of users preferred the electronic method. In addition to increasing the legibility and accessibility of clinical notes, we also decreased the volume of dictated notes and scanning of handwritten notes, which provides the opportunity for cost savings to the institution.

Impact of electronic medical record integration of a handoff tool on sign-out in a newborn intensive care unit.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of integrating a handoff tool into the electronic medical record (EMR) on sign-out accuracy, satisfaction and workflow in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). STUDY DESIGN: Prospective surveys of neonatal care providers in an academic children's hospital 1 month before and 6 months following EMR integration of a standalone Microsoft Access neonatal handoff tool. RESULT: Providers perceived sign-out information to be somewhat or very accurate at a rate of 78% with the standalone handoff tool and 91% with the EMR-integrated tool (P < 0.01). Before integration of neonatal sign-out into the EMR, 35% of providers were satisfied with the process of updating sign-out information and 71% were satisfied with the printed sign-out document; following EMR integration, 92% of providers were satisfied with the process of updating sign-out information (P < 0.01) and 98% were satisfied with the printed sign-out document (P<0.01). Neonatal care providers reported spending a median of 11 to 15 min/day updating the standalone sign-out and 16 to 20 min/day updating the EMR-integrated sign-out (P = 0.026). The median percentage of total sign-out preparation time dedicated to transcribing information from the EMR was 25 to 49% before and <25% after EMR integration of the handoff tool (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Integration of a NICU-specific handoff tool into an EMR resulted in improvements in perceived sign-out accuracy, provider satisfaction and at least one aspect of workflow.