How to achieve a smooth transition when switching your EHR

Over the last decade, there has been increasing adoption of electronic health records (EHR) due to the digitization across healthcare organizations. However, every technology implementation comes with opportunities for mistakes, such as outdated IT systems and poorly designed user interfaces, which can lead to EHR deployment failures. Studies show that 75% of physicians, providers, and practice administrators haven’t seen a return on their EHR investment. It’s evident that hospitals are implementing EHR systems, but to be successful, they need a smooth transition. In a recent webinar, Imprivata experts dove into key factors for a successful EHR transition and best practices for implementation.

According to research from Annals of Internal Medicine, physicians spend almost 50% of their time on EHR systems or doing desk work, and only 27% actually interacting face-to-face with patients. Thinking about these clinical workflows when implementing a new EHR system is critical in order to ensure successful adoption. Shadowing your clinicians and visualizing their workflows is beneficial to understanding what they need to do to get into their medical records and provide the necessary care for their patients. IT is implementing new technology, but clinicians are the ones actually using it daily.

Some of the most successful IT implementations have been driven by clinicians and their support. Putting in the time to communicate the new implementation, leveraging visuals and live demos to train staff on the new technology, and having team members on the floor to answer questions and assist with the new EHR can make a large difference in clinical adoption. Not everyone likes change, but focusing on the areas that have the most need for improvement and having knowledgeable staff members available can make for a successful rollout.

Partnering with an organization that provides a trusted enterprise single sign-on (SSO) solution can help to ensure EHR adoption and a true return on investment. Imprivata OneSign allows for fast, secure, No Click Access® to EHR systems and the applications that clinicians need. For example, Christus Health used the solution to enable its clinicians to save up 26,301 hours and see $2.3 million in projected savings per year. Reducing the number of password logins and the amount of help desk calls per day benefited both the IT and clinical teams, which in turn allowed providers to spend their time where it is was needed most – with their patients. 

Implementing a new EHR system can be challenging in today’s digital landscape, but working with your clinicians to ensure their needs are met and utilizing the right health IT solutions can result in high clinician satisfaction, time and cost savings, and patient satisfaction.

Listen to the full webinar here.