Human beings, by nature, are creatures of habit. Physicians are not immune to this trait. In fact, they may be more prone to becoming slaves to their routines given the demands of their profession. The unwillingness of physicians to change the way in which they take patient histories or fill out forms has been cited by many healthcare facilities as a primary reason for their inability to implement an EMR (electronic medical record) platform successfully. Many physicians, especially older doctors, are most comfortable using paper charts because it's how they've done their jobs for years. It's not that they're opposed to the concept of capturing patient data electronically so it can easily be accessed and shared both internally and with external healthcare agencies. They just don't want to have to trade in their paper charts for a laptop in order to achieve this end. To many physicians, taking a patient history using unfamiliar electronic forms on a laptop computer is a foreign process — a process that is not only uncomfortable for them, but can slow the pace at which they work. If this common road block to EMR adoption sounds familiar, I have one question for you — Why make your physicians change? There are several technologies available today that will allow your facility to move to EMRs, while allowing your physicians to maintain their paper-based behavioral processes.
Document Imaging, Capture Turns Paper Into Discrete Data
Several EMR software suites come equipped with document imaging and capture capabilities that allow paper forms to be scanned and converted to electronic images. Stand-alone document imaging systems are also available that can be integrated with EMR solutions. Once a document image is captured, NHR (natural handwriting recognition), OCR (optical character recognition), and ICR (intelligent character recognition) technologies can be applied to convert written and machine-print characters to electronic data that can populate the EMR system. Using this technique, a physician can continue to take patient histories on paper just like he always has and his administrative staff can scan the documents into the EMR once the chart is complete.
Tablet PC Solutions Mimic Paper Attributes
While document imaging and capture is a great way to minimize physician behavioral change on the path to EMR migration, it does involve a middle step that can be labor intensive at times. This "middle step" is the act of administrative personnel scanning paper charts and verifying or correcting the questionable characters identified by the intelligent capture software. A facility may be able to avoid this middle step by adopting Tablet PCs equipped with e-forms software.
Tablet PCs contain a touchscreen interface that can be written on using a stylus or electronic pen. For the physician, completing an electronic form on a tablet-PC is fundamentally the same as filling out a paper form. However, since it's an electronic medium, many of the document capture steps can be eliminated if the solution is designed correctly.
"First, the tablet-PC solution should have NHR technology built-in," says Brett Craven, product development manager, at Access, an e-forms software company and developer of Access Logical Ink, a tablet-based clinical documentation tool. "This will allow written text to be captured on the fly that can be immediately uploaded to the EMR. Second, the e-forms should mimic the paper forms currently in use at the healthcare facility to minimize the behavioral change the physician experiences."
While still a computer-based platform, Craven says that physicians require little to no training on his company's Access Logical Ink solution. "Physicians simply turn the tablet PC on, select the forms they need to complete for a specific patient, and complete the charts in their usual handwritten fashion."
The capabilities of the tablet PC can improve the charting experience for the physician as well. For example, a physician can zoom in on areas of the form, add annotations, change the color of the ink, and even add photos to a chart — all from the tablet PC device. Better yet, all this information is instantly converted to discrete data that is fed into the EMR.
According to Craven, a tablet PC-based e-forms solution can be leveraged for a wide spectrum of charting applications — from simple bedside consent forms to complex patient progress notes. The solutions typically consist of the tablet PCs, a server license, a device license, and professional service fees for forms design.
While many view physicians as being technology averse, a tablet PC-based e-forms solution that mimics their existing processes can be the stepping stone that finally eases your physicians and your healthcare facility into the EMR age. Furthermore, by allowing your doctors to maintain the processes that are familiar to them, "meaningful use" of EMR technology can be realized at an accelerated pace.
Source: http://www.healthcaretechnologyonline.com/article.mvc/Streamline-EMR-Migration-0001?VNETCOOKIE=NO
