By Charles Fred, managing director, Healthcare Provider Solutions, ACS, A Xerox Company
Last summer, I witnessed my oldest daughter’s wedding – an amazing, frenetic, but meaningful event. This month, as my company, The Breakaway Group joins the Xerox family in another well-orchestrated event, I have some advice for healthcare leaders and clinicians facing similar events in their efforts to adopt Electronic Medical Records (EMR).
Don’t prepare for a wedding without giving thought to the marriage.
When the EMR system “Goes Live,” it’s like a wedding – an important milestone, but only one small step in the journey to adoption. Like a marriage, EMR adoption is a lifelong commitment that requires ongoing attention to keep healthcare professionals informed and engaged. In fact, our research representing over 3200 physicians and 350 organizations, shows that focusing only on implementation contributes to failed EMR adoption. To change this, we developed our PromisePoint® methodology that allows care givers to practice using an EMR just as they would in the hospital or doctor’s office. By simulating their environment, we help them quickly get proficient in new tasks, and prepare for staffing, workflow and applications changes that can happen after the “Go Live” event. The cloud-based technology can also accommodate varying abilities of individual learning and retention by providing direct access to updated resources.
Our new relationship with Xerox represents our commitment to healthcare professionals. Now we can take our proven methodology to accelerate EMR adoption and make it available to many more healthcare providers. We will continue to help clinicians all over the world focus on patient care, and we will continue our long-term commitment to improve the quality and pace of EMR adoption. We have created a partnership with staying power, and our clients will benefit from the combined market leadership, innovation, and excellence in execution.
