Advice on going from paper to EMR in busy Pediatric Office

[dsturch]

Hello I am the Office Manager and LPN in a busy Pediatric office. We are getting ready to put in a EMR system this fall, and I am scared to death! Our office is small only two pediatricians one has been practicing for 10 years and does have a small amount of exprience with an EMR system. My other pediatrician has been practicing for 35 years and has absolutely no experience with EMR, and I might mention he's a bit stubbern. My office is just a small part of a large physician group so I do have other offices I can use for resources when we go live. Does anyone have experience with heading up a project like this in a clinic setting? Who can tell me where I need to start? Pointers? Things that work, and things that don't? How long did you keep your paper charts on sight? Did you scan documents from paper charts into EMR? I have absolutely no experience with EMR (Don't even know what it looks like), but I am computer savvy. What works best as far as effeciency goes? Labtops? Notebooks? PC in each room? How much is the physician actually required to do on the computer for each visit? I do nearly everything for one of my physicians during visits as far as charting/billing goes. Do these systems typically have templates for certain visits? ie. well baby checks, ADHD med check, sick visits?

[luv-of-kids]

Not to worry, EMR is very easy to use. I'm not very computer savvy and I didn't have any problems. We scanned our paperwork in, our med rec person did that and that was time consuming. There is templates for everything! Another good thing is you can start off slow (good for your more stubborn Doc), use a few templates at first and add as you get the hang of it. I think laptops in rooms is best. Good luck. I'm sure you'll find it very convenient.

[xoemmylouox, ASN, RN]

EMR requires more time than paper charting. It is great when you work in a multi-specialty clinic. You have a patient's records from every dept., lab, radiology studies, etc in one easy to access location. It is A LOT of work in the begining, but it improves as you get used to it. I suggest starting with something small. We started with phone messages in EMR. Then it went to patient visits. In the begining we would only do 5 or so a day until the docs felt confident with it. It didn't take long. You will find that you change what you want on your templates as you go. If all specialties plan on sharing the same software this process is even more complicated, and your docs will have to give and take. There are so many programs out there to choose from. Make sure there is good communication with you and those who are providing the software. Also make sure you invest in good IT people. They are your lifeline. Each nurse/doc has their own laptop. This works well. I don't suggest leaving a laptop in an exam room. In peds this just won't work, unless you like to replace them often. As you know kids will figure out a way to break anything and everything. Let me know if you have any other questions. Good luck!