It is well known in the electronic medical record (EMR) journey that there is a tangible difference between EMR implementation and EMR adoption. The implementation phase, a well-defined, subsidized, singular event, has been compared to a wedding: while significant, it’s not necessarily predictive of the long-term outcome. The adoption phase, in contrast, is rarely defined, difficult to measure and requires a level of engagement and commitment that is often overlooked.
As best practices around EMR adoption are being identified, two issues are finally getting the attention they deserve—usability and workflow.
EMR usability is one of the biggest challenges providers face. Complicated user interfaces and a plethora of drop-down menus, picklists, tabs, alerts and fields make EMRs hard to use. This can lead to a significant decrease in productivity, causing lost revenue for the hospital, the clinic and the provider.
The second issue has to do with the disruption to clinical workflow, which has been characterized as the series of actions required for a provider and his/her support staff to complete a patient encounter. Efficient clinical workflow is key to enabling providers to successfully manage and safely treat patients without spending additional time at the end of the day or at home completing documentation requirements.
Addressing these two issues will require optimization and innovation.
Unfortunately, today’s EMRs can’t do this alone. A smart layer of innovative technology is desperately needed, and the pressure is on to get there because of growing frustration around EMR complexity and requirements. A recent study by the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, Report of the AMIA EHR 2020 Task Force on the Status and Future Direction of EHRs, listed “decrease the data entry burden for the clinician” as the number one recommendation for simplifying and speeding documentation.
New methods are actively being developed at nVoq to optimize the use of EMRs and decrease the data entry burden for clinicians. Innovative ideas are emerging daily; we’re looking forward to partnering with and supporting the health IT community in its efforts to use technology to the fullest.
About nVoq
nVoq provides a cloud-based workflow optimization solution that captures data, as it is spoken, at thepoint of documentation, streamlines clinical workflow and improves the user experience.
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