Electronic Health Records Implementation Plan Outline

Answer

Electronic Health Records Implementation Plan Outline

            An Electronic Health Records (HER) implementation plan features a comprehensive set of strategies which will be used by a healthcare organization when making arrangements for the adoption of an electronic-based care system. As such, it is important that all necessary factors are taken into consideration to ensure that the implementation will be effective and free from setbacks. In this outline, the focus will be on which healthcare settings will be impacted, the interoperability needs, education and training requirements, as well as the testing considerations.

Impacted Health Care Settings within the Enterprise Health Care System

            A healthcare setting includes the acute-care hospitals, nursing homes, physicians’ offices, outpatient clinics, and even home care. Within the enterprise healthcare system that will be implemented, the impacted healthcare settings will feature the physicians’ offices, the intensive care unit, laboratories, pharmacy, and even the nursing station which is where the electronic healthcare records will be stored. These will be impacted in such a way that all the locations will be fitted with computers and a working internet connection. Therefore, once information has been entered at the front desk, all other professionals can access the same file automatically through their own computers (Shahmoradi et al., 2017). There will be no need of having to convey the information in person or through hard copies. Thus, this will make the work easier for all the healthcare professionals since communication will be promoted. Also, patient records of the past will be easily retrieved and used to inform current decisions with ease. This approach is expected to help improve the quality of care given to the patients.

Needs for Interoperability and Interfaces between Information Systems

            Through enhanced connections, reaction times are sped up because communication becomes easier. However, there are gains made as the various software and computer systems become linked up with another to facilitate automated data sharing. Interoperability refers to ability of these computerized systems to connect and communicate with each other without any setbacks. It should not matter whether the systems were developed by entirely different entities. For the modern healthcare environment, it is imperative that all applications, databases, and computer systems can all exchange information effectively.

            Interoperability describes the extent to which systems and devices can communicate through data exchange, and eventually interpret this data. Before two systems can be considered to be interoperable, they must be able to exchange data and then present it in a manner that the user can easily understand. The user interface used to connect these computers must be well understood by all users (Bajwa, Singh & Kumar De, 2020). It is important to establish protocols for networking data, transmission of emails. The government also establishes protocols for networking data and the transmitting emails so as to ensure that other security and encryption schemes have been designed to promote the confidentiality of sensitive patient information.

Education and Training Requirements

            With regards to the education and training requirements, the first step should feature developing a timeline for the EHR training and the related goals. However, it is also important to understand that the training process will always be on-going. It should not stop after the plan has been implemented.

            The next step will feature the assessment of the training needs and skill levels of users. Although most of the current employees are computer literate, many will not have current skill levels to deal with new software. Their skill will constantly need to be updated. Hence, this step will feature analysing their needs based on how much they know about the system, and what they will need to learn.

            A training team will be put in place to ensure that they assist the employees through the implementation phase. At first, many will need to be guided on the effective use of the system even after they have undergone training (Bajwa, Singh & Kumar De, 2020). The members of this team should have practical understanding of the system being implemented so that they are able to share the same knowledge.

User Acceptance Testing Considerations

            Since the system is based in the healthcare industry, there is no room for error. Thus, rather than testing the system after it has already been implemented, it is essential to carry out the activity before it has been put to use. The testing phase of user acceptance is essential because it will determine whether the users are indeed embracing the new system (McCrorie et al., 2019) . If they are not, it means that there is a problem that must be addressed immediately to ensure that major impacts on patients and the organization are avoided. Many workplaces are challenged by the problem of resistance to change. This occurs when the employees refuse to embrace a change and slowly go back to the previous mode of operation. If resistance to change is experienced, the process will be restarted to ensure that the employees are better prepared to deal with the new system, and that their concerns regarding the change are fully addressed.

Conclusion

            This implementation plan outline will work as the foundation of the new EHR that will be introduced. It has covered a lot of the essential areas that must be given sufficient attention to ensure better outcomes. Through the special considerations addressed above, the implementation process is expected to be smooth and free from challenges.