I fully understand and know how hard it can be, given that Web based EMR is not just another way of ‘clinical note taking’ as some people call it, but it is a paradigm shift for practices. I call it a paradigm shift because it changes almost everything that you do in your practice. It affects not only you, but the entire staff.
There are several things that I urge Physicians to do.
- Don’t make a decision in isolation, involve your staff, get their full buy-in and commitment, and not just because the ‘boss’ wants it.
- Look at the impact on the entire practice – the workflow, productivity (loss or gain) and also the impact over time. How does the ‘curve’ look? How long will you ‘hurt’ before it starts yielding the benefits?
- Don’t just look at the ‘features’ – I know. Most good systems have all the features. It is about the implementation, the support, the productivity.
Before I show the system, I try to understand your practice, your workflow and the try to ‘map’ it to see how it may work in your practice. If it is not a good fit, I will tell you upfront. It would not make sense to ‘fit a square peg in a round hole’.
