Q&A with the CIO of Preferred Health Partners

Answers below provided by Aman Bhasin, Chief Information Officer, Preferred Health Partners

Q.     Why must workflow analysis be a critical component of the EHR selection and adoption process?

• If the goal for your project is to make it easier for a physician to record the patients health information as well as make it easier for the physician or other care providers to access the information in the future, then it is imperative that the workflow not get disrupted.  The software should be an enabler and make your staff more productive and efficient.  If the workflow is disrupted, it will cause you to have less acceptance and more resistance towards the change and your project will be doomed before it begins.  It will also reduce the learning curve of your staff.  They (both clinical and non-clinical) have enough to learn in the new system and do not need the additional burden of learning new workflows.  Transparency is critical especially in the earlier stages. As you get more mature in your adaptation, you can always work on changing workflow using the tools that the EMR provides to you.

Q.     What are the biggest challenges you’ve faced as CIO of a multi-practice system over the past two years?

• There are many large challenges for a CIO as we are in a dynamic environment and technology in   healthcare is still in its infancy stages. Clearly one of the biggest challenges has been the acceptance of the system by physicians.  You need to understand that adoption is on a one time process - it is a cyclical one.  There are continuous changes in the technology, the physician comfort level with the system and the demand for enhancements.  There are forces that cause us to change the system which are not always clinically driven.  Sometimes it is a need from administration so we can better measure and report on metrics and other times it may be finance (coding, billing, etc).  Those reporting demands tend to require changes to the physician templates so we may better record data or better capture details of a patient visit.  This means that you need to have a good means of communication to your users for changes in the system along with a continual training program.

Q.     What are your top recommendations for providers as they continue their journeys toward achieving meaningful use?

• Understand the requirements and have a strategic plan for all stages, not just the first.
• Try to make changes to your system that will benefit your practice in the long run overall - not just meaningful use dollars as they will run out!
• Review your community connect strategy - you are basing the sharing of patient information to your RHIO or HIE - do they have a long term financial model? What will you do if they are not around in 4 years?
• How many external parties do you refer to or connect to for data exchange? Are you equipped to develop or may for dozens of interfaces or are you better off going with a broker.