I used to believe that proper training sessions are not too important in order to get accustomed to the functions and usability of Electronic Health Records (EHRs). According to me, watching a hand full of video tutorials should always suffice. However, it was until recently that I was made aware of the opposite stance. It was a discussion with a Health IT consultant, Keith Smith, which helped me understand the significance and concept of EHR training.
No doubt, physicians are well aware of the benefits of Electronic Health Records. They know that it would help them in reducing their costs, achieve government’s allocated financial incentives, enhance efficiency, and ensure patient safety. However, it is only through proper EHR training that physicians can get their hands on the aforementioned objectives.
“I know a number of physicians who complain about not achieving optimum outcomes through their EHRs, sometimes they even go to an extent of blaming the EHR vendors for that. However, be it the physician or the vendor, it is the lack of proper EHR training that results in such a situation”, says Keith Smith.
Behavioral Health, Interoperability and eConsent: Meeting the Demands of CMS Final Rule Compliance
In a webinar on April 16 at 1pm ET, Aneesh Chopra will moderate a discussion with executives from DocuSign, Velatura, and behavioral health providers on eConsent, health information exchange and compliance with the CMS Final Rule on interoperability.
On one hand, it is important for physicians to realize that EHR training is a step by step procedure which might take some time, while on the other hand, vendors should understand that adopting a new technology is not an easy task for everyone. It would always be more prolific to train physicians on the basic features and functionalities of electronic health records rather than inundating them with advanced level concepts. While the former would help physicians comprehend the application, the later may frustrate them. According to recent surveys, it is through gradual training that physicians have learnt to use electronic health records efficiently.
“The idea of getting familiar to basic features, initially, makes complete sense to me. I will give you a logical example, while learning how to drive; I would obviously want to learn about the basic controls first rather than getting into the details of how a GPS system etc works”, says Keith Smith.
Another mistake on part of the vendors is the failure to understand the concept of learning curve. While it takes some physicians to get trained in a few days, others might require more time. Hence, following an appropriate pace while training, undoubtedly, is a recommendation for trainers.
Nevertheless, it is also important for physicians to equally participate during the EHR training. As the lack of participation would not only obstruct learning and but also hamper proper implementation of the application – eventually failing to produce desired outcomes.
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A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
