When Optimizing the EHR, Don't Forget Your Clinicians

An enhanced EHR is key to a healthy revenue cycle, but one CMO says clinicians can't be left out of decision making and optimization.

HealthLeaders previously spoke with Michael Weiner, CMO of MSU Health Care, in East Lansing, Michigan, about a range of topics, including post COVID-19 clinical challenges and physician leadership, but there was one topic discussed that has been top of mind for revenue cycle leaders: optimizing the EHR. 

HealthLeaders asked if there was anything specific that can be done to EHRs to make them more user friendly for clinicians, and according to Weiner, including clinicians in optimization and decision making is key. 

“For example, when I see a patient, if I have to click 40 times to get from the beginning of the patient encounter to the end of the patient encounter, is there a more optimal way to do that? Is there a way to get through in 20 clicks? Is there a way for me to be able to dictate into the blocks I need to fill out to make it more efficient for me?” Weiner asked.

One solution Weiner said is offering advanced optimization training, which is having elbow-to-elbow experts working with the physicians as they see patients to improve their workflow within the EHR. Doing so will not only help the clinical team, but the patients too.

“There are also technologies that can make the experience better for clinicians and patients. We have adopted patient-supportive technology to make it easier to sign in, to make it easier to give medical history, and to avoid filling out pages of forms when you see a doctor. You can also bring in additional support such as scribes to help do the input work. We are looking at optimizing the electronic health record to improve retention and to make us a more attractive employer,” Weiner said.

When revenue cycle leaders look to update, implement, or optimize this software, the importance of including input from the clinical team was recently echoed by Liza Dzhezhora, healthcare IT analyst at Itransition.

“An EHR project’s success depends on more than just qualified developers; it also requires clinicians with industry-specific knowledge of hospital tasks, operations, and workflows. Hence, the EHR implementation project needs both technical and clinical perspectives,” Dzhezhora said.

According to Dzhezhora, revenue cycle leaders should select doctors with medium to high levels of computer competence (superusers), singling them out with the help of online tests. During the project, superusers should perform four essential tasks:

• Workflow mapping. Superusers can map the selected workflows and regularly update them to make sure they fully reflect clinical processes.

• Drafting the needed integrations. Through their awareness of existing digital solutions, superusers can map the necessary integrations and provide the information to the development team.

• Usability testing. Superusers can identify issues that are potentially dangerous for patients, like wrong dosages or units of measurement.
• Mentoring. Superusers can oversee beginners’ training, helping them master workflows and daily tasks.

“Doctors’ participation in the project can improve all clinicians’ understanding of the new EHR system and its place in their organization while making the implementation smoother,” Dzhezhora said.