The Right People to Implement Electronic Medical Records
The Right People to Implement Electronic Medical Records
Staff members will be aware that a new EPM system will have a sweeping effect on billing and scheduling. They will understand the risks that they are up against, and may feel pressure. The administrators should understand the concerns employees will raise when they discuss a new system. At times we experienced resistance from staff.
A group of power-users should be created. These people should be the first ones trained on aspects of the new system, who then take the example to the rest of the staff. These power-users should come from a variety of areas:
1) Information Technology
2) Administration
3) Office Staff
4) Clinical
5) Front Desk
6) Compliance
In order for the new system to succeed, this committee must take charge of the project. Our practice formed a committee which could hold meetings as it saw fit. This group of people had taken the project from the very beginning, and some put in evenings and weekends as they had the power of decision-making and the responsibilities that come with it. Confidence in individuals and the group gradually grew.
Some key players include:
Front Desk Staff
This group provides valuable input from the perspective of the end-users; their tasks include check-in, check-out, posting charges, and scheduling. Their critical job at the present time is the manual posting of the charges when the patient checks out. This will be even more significant in the near-future when the EMR module posts charges automatically in real-time. Having the time to get the bugs out of this process helped support our initial decision to postpone EMR implementation until the staff was acclimated.
Clinical Staff
Although not as vital during this phase of EPM conversion, their participation will be key to the success of the integration of the EMR into the practice in a few months. Nevertheless, it is important to for them to be involved in the early stages of planning; it is helpful for them to have an appreciation for what the non-clinical staff does and how the EMR will fit into the entire scheme of things.
IT Specialist
This person should be involved from the beginning, before choosing the EMR software. If a practice cannot justify the expense of a full-time IT specialist, an IT consultant should be retained. Because we knew that conversion to EMR was just part of our overall strategic plan, we felt we could justify hiring a full-time IT specialist. In fact, due to this person's expertise in software licensing, Internet communications, and hardware networking, the changes that were incorporated into the practice eventually paid for his annual salary.
Coding/Billing Specialist
These employees should also have a voice in the initial software selection process. They helped to minimize the hiccups we experienced when switching from our old EPM system to the new one. On their recommendation, we performed a trial run on the new system prior to completely abandoning our old system. This allowed our IT specialist to verify that the posting and billing were being performed correctly. Someone technically proficient with coding and compliance issues will be invaluable when the EMR module goes live, to prevent under- or over-coding and ensure HIPAA compliance.
The physicians in our practice felt it was essential to empower the EMR committee with the authority to plan and manage the EPM/EMR integration from the beginning. The managing partners meet on a regular basis with our administrator for status reports but oversight of the nuts and bolts of the entire process is handled in a laissez faire manner. As mentioned previously, the success of this project depends in large part on the involvement of all members of the organization.
The Right People to Implement Electronic Medical Records - To learn more about this author, visit Peter Polack's Website.
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It is important to have staff involvement properly implement an electronic medical records system properly. No single person can realize this job single-handedly, no matter how skilled they are.
Staff members will be aware that a new EPM system will have a sweeping effect on billing and scheduling. They will understand the risks that they are up against, and may feel pressure. The administrators should understand the concerns employees will raise when they discuss a new system. At times we experienced resistance from staff.
A group of power-users should be created. These people should be the first ones trained on aspects of the new system, who then take the example to the rest of the staff. These power-users should come from a variety of areas:
1) Information Technology
2) Administration
3) Office Staff
4) Clinical
5) Front Desk
6) Compliance
In order for the new system to succeed, this committee must take charge of the project. Our practice formed a committee which could hold meetings as it saw fit. This group of people had taken the project from the very beginning, and some put in evenings and weekends as they had the power of decision-making and the responsibilities that come with it. Confidence in individuals and the group gradually grew.
Some key players include:
Front Desk Staff
This group provides valuable input from the perspective of the end-users; their tasks include check-in, check-out, posting charges, and scheduling. Their critical job at the present time is the manual posting of the charges when the patient checks out. This will be even more significant in the near-future when the EMR module posts charges automatically in real-time. Having the time to get the bugs out of this process helped support our initial decision to postpone EMR implementation until the staff was acclimated.
Clinical Staff
Although not as vital during this phase of EPM conversion, their participation will be key to the success of the integration of the EMR into the practice in a few months. Nevertheless, it is important to for them to be involved in the early stages of planning; it is helpful for them to have an appreciation for what the non-clinical staff does and how the EMR will fit into the entire scheme of things.
IT Specialist
This person should be involved from the beginning, before choosing the EMR software. If a practice cannot justify the expense of a full-time IT specialist, an IT consultant should be retained. Because we knew that conversion to EMR was just part of our overall strategic plan, we felt we could justify hiring a full-time IT specialist. In fact, due to this person's expertise in software licensing, Internet communications, and hardware networking, the changes that were incorporated into the practice eventually paid for his annual salary.
Coding/Billing Specialist
These employees should also have a voice in the initial software selection process. They helped to minimize the hiccups we experienced when switching from our old EPM system to the new one. On their recommendation, we performed a trial run on the new system prior to completely abandoning our old system. This allowed our IT specialist to verify that the posting and billing were being performed correctly. Someone technically proficient with coding and compliance issues will be invaluable when the EMR module goes live, to prevent under- or over-coding and ensure HIPAA compliance.
The physicians in our practice felt it was essential to empower the EMR committee with the authority to plan and manage the EPM/EMR integration from the beginning. The managing partners meet on a regular basis with our administrator for status reports but oversight of the nuts and bolts of the entire process is handled in a laissez faire manner. As mentioned previously, the success of this project depends in large part on the involvement of all members of the organization.
The Right People to Implement Electronic Medical Records - To learn more about this author, visit Peter Polack's Website.
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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