My four physicians had been very wary about switching to an EMR. When they hired me in 2003, they said one of my goals should be installing an EMR, but over the years, when I proposed various systems, they said, “Let’s just wait and see.” I could tell they were hesitant and I was careful not to push it because they would be using the system more than I would. I knew it would fundamentally change what they do, and I wanted them to like it.
This year, a vendor offered to install the system for free on a trial basis for one month, and the doctors agreed to it. We asked the other finalists if they would do the same, but none would. The vendor, SRS in Montvale, N.J., installed the system in late June and the trial period would begin on July 21. We had about two weeks to scan 1,500 charts into the system, representing patients being seen at that time by my four doctors and two PAs. I hired some college students to help me and we worked into the evening and weekends scanning in the charts. We did not scan charts for patients not being currently seen, so staff are still scanning in some old charts when previous patients come back.
The doctors began using the system on July 21 and had to make a decision at the monthly practice board meeting on Aug. 21. I was nervous about what they would say. Other practice managers warned me that the first month of an EMR transition is the hardest for the doctors, so it would be a bad timeframe to make a decision in. I heard that some practices have become so disgruntled that that they demanded de-installation of their newly installed EMR systems and, in one case, even fired the practice manager who brought it on board.
But my fears did not materialize. All the doctors liked it pretty much right away, even our oldest doctor who is near retirement. Initially he said he didn’t want to be part of the new system. Though still skeptical, he was persuaded to join, and now he is a convert.
The digital chart that the doctors see on the screen looks much like the paper chart they used to have, so using it is very intuitive. The EMR even has extra features that the paper chart did not have, such as clinical summary that lists allergies and a prescription history. The messaging feature digitizes all of the incoming reports, dictation and messages that used to be on paper, so that everything needed is already attached to the patient’s chart. No one has to go find the chart anymore; it’s all there.
Now my doctors are getting ready to do electronic prescribing through the EMR. We didn’t use that feature during the trial. We are able to add functionality in increments as we’re comfortable, instead of having to re-learn how to do everything in a different way, all at once.
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