Electronic Medical Records Implementation : Is Your Training Effective?

To implement an electronic medical records (EMR) system, you will need buy-in. This means you will need firm commitments from the top influences at your practice, as well as at all levels of the organization. Just one naysayer can bring down the people around them, and a managing partner may have to interject when discovering that a physician is actively preventing project implementation. Also, it's a good idea to tell your patients about the practice's move to electronic; they will be much more patient as the office works through little problems if they are on-board with your vision.

Most project managers would cite the people factor as the main cause of project failure. In most cases, the cause of this problem is traceable to bad training and planning. The transition to electronic medical records can be a stress for some people; this is particularly the case if they are having to learn the system while working with patients in a live setting. It's often a good idea to designate some people as contact people when staff experiences problems or questions about the new system.

One great way to determine if your staff is ready for EMR it to conduct training audits. For example, one medical practice asked the office coordinator to conduct a training course which taught employees to use the upcoming EMR system. Training sessions were held weekly. Everything seemed to flow well, but when the day of the launch arrived, it became obvious that some employees did not have much competence in using the new system.

Unfortunately, the training that was provided didn't include any evaluations or audit how well the staff were trained as individuals. Just sending people to classes is a good idea, but cannot guarantee that they will really understand how to use the new EMR system. Tests should be administered, and grades given based on performance. Also keep in mind that skills do fade after long breaks between use. This situation could occur if the launch date is postponed, for example.

Ideally, there will be ample opportunities to practice and develop new skills during the workday. Offering after-work tutorials can be a good idea as well. Be sure to remind your employees that successful EMR implementation is a team effort, and you understand how hard everyone is working toward this aim. Still, be sure to audit the success of your training offerings, to be sure that everyone is ready for the big switch to electronic records.

By the way, do you want to learn more about implementing EMR in your own practice? Download my free report "Getting Through The EMR Maze."

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