The clinician’s important role in IT decision making

Healthcare IT teams are constantly striving to introduce innovative technologies across their organizations securely and in a way that does not hinder clinical workflows for end-users². The ultimate goal is to improve the quality of patient care. To achieve this goal and to develop systems that support clinicians, IT should engage those involved in the day-to-day interactions with patients. Unfortunately, healthcare technology is sometimes implemented without the input of physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and allied health professionals. A recent survey found that only 14% of IT directors consulted with frontline healthcare personnel before beginning the technology selection process¹.

A lesson learned from implementing EHRs

EHR adoption is a tremendous and costly undertaking, and can be frustrating for many clinicians. It’s not surprising that Chilton Memorial Hospital was met with resistance from some of its care providers who were accustomed to finding everything they needed in a patient’s chart. Chilton’s Director of Technology Services knew that clinicians would only adopt new technology if it was conducive to their workflows and, most importantly, didn’t disrupt patient care. It was necessary to find a way to implement an EHR without forcing clinicians to log in and out of multiple applications dozens of times a day. After considering the clinical and technical requirements and evaluating available solutions, Chilton decided to implement Imprivata OneSign®, including single sign-on (SSO), authentication management, and virtual desktop roaming.

How to improve adoption of new technology in healthcare

The input of clinical leadership helps ensure new technology can be used effectively under actual real-world conditions³. It should enhance, not detract from, the organization’s ability to deliver safe, high-quality care. Key elements of collaboration include:

• Setting priorities for recommended practices not yet addressed
• Ensuring a plan is in place to maintain already enacted practices
• Dedicating required resources to make necessary improvements
• Working together to prevent and mitigate safety risks introduced by the EHR or other healthcare technologies

Streamlining point-of-care access and patient care

Imprivata understands the importance of clinical workflows, offering robust solutions that streamline patient care through optimized EHR utilization, simplified access management, faster communications, secure messaging, and improved patient safety measures. Clinicians can access protected health information at any time and from any device, receive timely alerts, review results, start treatment, or initiate patient discharge before heading into the hospital, significantly improving efficiency.

Engaging clinician champions at each stage of the process can help ensure smoother sailing through implementation to adoption.

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¹https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/healthcare-information-technology/4-tips-for-improving-clinician-adoption-of-new-healthcare-technology.html

²https://www.healthit.gov/sites/imprivata/files/hit_tool_providersfactsheet072013.pdf

³https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/healthcare-systems-and-services/our-insights/when-clinicians-lead

⁴https://www.healthit.gov/topic/safety/safer-guides