Healthcare Software: 3 Things to Expect Post-Implementation

I just read the August 17th issue of Information Week magazine – specifically the article called “9 Ways to Make E-Health Succeed”. Well, the article then goes on to give a bunch of common sense tips that pretty much any IT project would need to be successful, such as, get all stakeholders involved, do not underestimate the effect it will have on the business, start small, plan for the future, blah, blah, blah.

Sounds great on paper, but what about after the system has been implemented? What can I expect when I walk into the doctor’s examination room? What will the experience be like? What are some things that doctors and IT staff need to work on going forward? I think everyone agrees that electronic health systems are important. They eliminate the need to fax documents between offices, and they often can be helpful in maintaining an entire patient history. They will also become an important part of the forthcoming healthcare legislation no matter what other options and extras are included or dropped by politicians in the coming months.

First, I will talk about three experiences I have had at 3 separate doctor offices during the past few months, and then I will address the three things that we need to focus on going forward in IT Healthcare systems on both sides of the screen.

Doctor One – Family Medicine. So I went for my annual wellness checkup and noticed that the doctor had implemented an e-system. Upon entry, my doctor attempted a login and failed, he tried again and failed. I noticed the CapsLock was on and showed him where to press in order to login. Success! He then began to enter some data when he must have fat-fingered a key because some info about the monitor popped up and said to press . He began to look for the Exit key and couldn’t find it. I showed him that it was on the monitor and not the keyboard. After typing some notes into a tab, he went to another screen and when he came back his notes were gone. Frustrated, he completed the exam be writing notes the old fashioned way, and said he would have one of the assistants type in the info later.

Doctor Two – Hospital Nurse. My wife was in the most intense part of labor (without pain medication) and needless to say, it was a little tough. She required assistance with various things like breathing, calming, massage, etc. Where was the nurse? Right next to us typing away. Taking readings, entering data, notes, who knows what – but she did little more for us than jockey the computer. Luckily I read up on the birth partner books and was able to assist my wife, because there was no help from the staff, they were busy working with the computer.

Doctor Three – Pediatrician. So we took our daughter to the Pediatrician, and the doctor came in, logged in to his work station, entered some metrics and some notes. He then examined our daughter and entered some follow-up notes and a prescription, which then uploaded to the pharmacy of our choice. There was a great balance between doctor patient and tools (PC). I asked the doctor how he liked using a computer as part of his daily patient routine, and he said that he was skeptical at first. He is in his 60s and did not grow up with technology, and he said he struggled in the beginning. He said that the IT staff was quick to answer his questions, show him tips and tricks, and make changes where necessary in the system to accommodate what he needed.

So here are the challenges:
1. Initial productivity drops will occur.
2. Remember that the patient comes first before technology.
3. Train and respond to doctors and nurses as they use the technology.

Initial productivity drops will occur. Doctors should schedule more time between patients and longer patient visits to give themselves time to use the technology in the early days after implementation. This will allow them to get accustomed to the system and allow them time to work through issues and get questions answered.

Remember that the patient comes first. Just because the computer is the new instrument in the room, practitioners need not fixate on it. In most cases it’s replacing a pen and paper and integrating functionality that was formerly disparate.

Train and respond to practitioner needs. As IT staff, we need to have a sense of urgency and think proactively when supporting healthcare systems. The accuracy required in these systems can be more important than in other industries, because an error can really be life or death for someone. Not only do we need to appropriately train medical staff to use a computer, navigate the operating system, and learn the intricacies of their healthcare software, but IT staff needs to be flexible and responsive when issues arise.

Addressing these challenges will help to ensure that IT healthcare software implementations go smoothly while catapulting American medicine into the 21st Century.