EHR Optimization

Dealing with your EHR can be cumbersome, but follow these tips to optimize your EHR and make your use more efficient.

1. Connect leadership and EHR users

• Boosts provider satisfaction long-term and reduces slowdown.

2. Enhance hardware and built-environment solutions

• Implement side-by-side seating for physicians, clinical staff, and office staff.
  
• Have printers available in every exam room.
  
• Install sign-in process technology.
  
• Optimize software solutions and make sure it is up to date.

3. Reduce the burden of computerized provider order entry (CPOE) order entry and documentation

• Understanding workflows is critical to ensuring successful adoption of CPOE.
  
• It is a solution to reduces errors and improve safety.

4. Enhance teamwork and provider use of the EHR

• Working together as a team can lead users to have a more positive experience with the EHR.

5. Improve information workflow throughout the health system

• Can the system translate physician-entered data into correct diagnoses codes?

6. Communicate with clinical partners

• If your practice enters collaborative partnerships, check in to see what technology the clinical partners are using so your staff can plan to communicate accordingly. Discuss alternate strategies for streamlining information.

7. Build pre-populated templates

• Build pre-populated templates for common visit types (the Academy is currently in the process of creating these for common dermatological conditions and diseases).
  
• If practices have more than one physician, take advantage of sharing templates to help standardize the process.

8. Create folders

• Create folders that includes the most commonly used medications, labs, and other orders to easily retrieve.

9. Follow a server maintenance plan

• Follow a server maintenance plan that may be designed by an IT service management company to help with hard disk maintenance, network integrity checks, data backup execution, software installation, security software updates, and much more.

10. Always ask for help, coach others, and look for solutions

• People often learn best working hands-on. Whether you are a new staff member or not, always questions to optimize your experience with the EHR.

11. Have pre-populated notes

• Have pre-populated notes in the medical record to limit the amount of information to enter in the future.

Do you still have your paper records in practice? Often practices are unsure what to do after the integrate their medical records into the EHR.

• After the paper records are converted into the EHR, the paper version should only be used as a reference.

• The practice should decide how long it wants to maintain the paper records – after all staff members have transitioned over to the EHR, it is safe to archive or put paper records in storage. Paper records can also be destroyed — they should always be shredded.

• Retention requirements for medical records vary by state, federal, and accreditation agencies. Be sure to check out the State Medical Records Laws (PDF) to be in line with requirements. Generally, the information in records must be retained for at least six years, but usually that doesn’t mean paper versions must be maintained if the information is preserved elsewhere.

Additional AAD resources