Lifespan Information Services
Role:
Information Services Medical Director
City of Practice:
Providence
In Practice Since:
1988
Physicians in Practice:
1
EHR Solution:
eClinicalWorks
Date Implemented:
Not applicable, as I work in a support/administrative role supporting EHR implementations
What are the benefits you have realized from EHR Adoption?
We have implemented EHR’s on the inpatient side and assisted ambulatory practices and are implementing an EHR in the clinics. Medication safety has been the biggest and most important benefit. Allergy and interaction checking have detected an amazing number of potential errors and prevented them at the point of origin. EHR’s have also improved adherence to evidence based best practices by prompting for interventions, improved both the completeness and legibility of documentation, and greatly enhanced sharing of information between caregivers.
We have implemented EHR’s on the inpatient side and assisted ambulatory practices and are implementing an EHR in the clinics. Medication safety has been the biggest and most important benefit. Allergy and interaction checking have detected an amazing number of potential errors and prevented them at the point of origin. EHR’s have also improved adherence to evidence based best practices by prompting for interventions, improved both the completeness and legibility of documentation, and greatly enhanced sharing of information between caregivers.
What advice would you offer a physician planning to adopt an EHR?
EHR’s are a tool. They can be very effective in helping you do the right thing, but they’re not very good at forcing you to do things that you’re not trying to do now. If you’re doing things well on paper, EHR implementation will be fairly painless and give you real benefit. If you’re not doing a good job on paper, you really should examine and fix your work-flow first. EHR’s are not an easy fix for broken processes.
EHR’s are a tool. They can be very effective in helping you do the right thing, but they’re not very good at forcing you to do things that you’re not trying to do now. If you’re doing things well on paper, EHR implementation will be fairly painless and give you real benefit. If you’re not doing a good job on paper, you really should examine and fix your work-flow first. EHR’s are not an easy fix for broken processes.