Clinical and IT Teams Need To Collaborate on EHR Workflows
EHR optimization and workflow redesign are under-discussed aspects of M&A and shared-system programs. Due diligence happens, but it rarely goes down to the level of workflows, so the receiving organization does not know the complexities or inefficiencies it is taking on. A new practice cannot adopt a larger organization’s EHR overnight, and the build it inherits will shape how its clinicians work for years.
In our experience, the first step is a detailed current-state versus future-state assessment, and clinical stakeholders have to be part of it. Clinicians need to understand how the EHR works today and how it will change, and IT needs to hear where the current build gets in the way of care.
EHRs were once treated as IT projects. Today, they require lockstep collaboration between clinical and IT departments, and that collaboration needs a structure: a multidisciplinary steering committee with clinicians at the helm that owns intake, prioritization and the enhancement backlog. Every part of the EHR that touches a patient belongs in its scope, including revenue cycle, radiology and more, because the patient moves through all of them. Organizing governance around the patient journey keeps the backlog focused on the workflows that span departments. That is also why change management matters as much as the technical build.
ReMedi and CDW work together to close the gap between clinical and IT perspectives. Here is where that shows up in practice:
- Clinician adoption. ReMedi’s teams bring healthcare expertise from the physician side as well as the IT side. Clinicians who have used the system at the point of care lead the workflow assessment and optimization sessions, so the redesign reflects how care is actually delivered.
- Technology environment. A redesigned workflow only works if the devices, network, access and infrastructure behind it keep up. CDW’s healthcare IT teams make sure that the environment the EHR runs on supports the new workflow, from end-user devices and secure access to the systems that keep the application available.
RELATED: Follow this guide to common AI features for EHR platforms.
When Should EHR Optimization Happen?
The answer is simple: from the start.
The organizations that do this well maintain a long-term roadmap that separates what they will address now from what comes later, and they treat optimization as a continuous cycle. Planning never fully stops, because EHR vendors keep releasing new modules and enhancements, and each release is a decision: adopt, defer or decline. Without a standing process, those decisions default to later.
Stagnation is what later looks like. Seven or eight years after go-live, care teams are still using outdated workflows even though features and processes have changed. Clinicians become comfortable with the idiosyncrasies of their work, even if a task takes 30 steps to complete. A partner that can offer the clinical perspective, that has been an end-user of an EHR, is a valuable asset for change.
This article is part of HealthTech’s MonITor blog series featuring analysis and recommendations from CDW experts.
