In today’s time, one thing is constant; change. We have been facing many states of affairs, some are detrimental and some are benign. But all of these situations have always led us to one thing, and that is nothing but the change. The present state of the world has been through a lot, but cheers to us; we have prevailed over and have welcomed advanced ways of dealing with the current scenario.

This brings us to have a word about the term “digitization”. This term has played a major role in welcoming transformation in every sector. Digitization is the reason we have managed to continue to work so far. Speaking about digitization being helpful in the healthcare industry, it flourishes the whole new scenarios of the story. Having said that, let us talk about what are the barriers that have been faced while adopting EHRs in cardiology and solutions and they have been overcome. Gone are the days when we were using bulky file folders to store, manage, and retrieve the information of patients present in the hospital. The prodigious transformation from the document-based storage system to EHR is one of the commendable reforms in the healthcare sector. And, behind any commendable transformation, there are the hidden challenges that will steal the limelight of this blog. Let’s get started with it:

1. Security of the data

One of the significant EHR implementation challenges is the data privacy concerns of the patient community as well as the provider. The stakeholders are generally concerned about the risk of data being leaked due to a natural disaster or a cyber attack. The federal rule has inflicted a national policy to protect the confidentiality of personal health data. In case of a security breach, the organization can find itself in legal trouble and have to spend a big sum of money to settle down the matter. Thus, it becomes a prior responsibility of the provider to ensure the strictness of the data security of the EHR.

2. EHR’s inefficiency as to the requirements of the providers

Many vendors seem to expect all providers to make use of the software as it is out of the box. However, each hospital’s way of work and internal processes are different which means EHR systems cannot actually be one-size-fits-all. It is recommended to work with the EHR vendor to create a system that works for the individual hospital in such a way that it meets the needs of the provider.

However, working with a vendor should ultimately lead to the result in a compromise, not an ultimatum, has been quoted by “Mr. Laughlin”(project director of Massachusetts eHealth Collaborative and executive director of the Regional Extension Center of New Hampshire). “I’ve seen a lot of providers demand that the software mimic their current workflow that’s also unrealistic,” he says. “You need to find a compromise in the middle that optimizes the software.”

How did these challenges meet with respective rational solutions?

Create a strategic solution before implementing any idea

The first and foremost step of EHR implementation is to come up with a thorough strategic plan to work out all the activities ahead. Assign respective duties and responsibilities for the team members, identify the physician champions, and develop a space for mutual support and dependence. Ensure the team is all set with an alternative strategy as well. Workforce productivity may decline; workflow may go out of control or even patients may get irritated during the phase of implementation. A vital point to remember here is that preparation is the key to successful EHR implementation.

Make sure that the leadership is strong enough

In order to align the team to the organization’s EHR implementation process, leaders must act dynamically to transform the management. They must build a sub-committee of leaders who have experience in implementing innovative IT systems in multiple fields to guide the implementation team.

Prioritize the health of the patient

Keeping the priorities clear helps you create innovative solutions, here the priority is providing the patients the best treatment. While making decisions on the EHR implementation, think about how and why it would be advantageous to their patients. In a value-based healthcare system, the requirements of the patient are being given the most value. After all, the largest user group in the EHR system is the patient.

Final thoughts

So, these are the challenges and barriers that are being faced majorly. For healthcare industries, the implementation of EHR systems is not a huge investment. A meaningful user-certified EHR system is something that is being considered normal in the present healthcare landscape and liability for the providers. We are a step closer to building a more efficient healthcare landscape by welcoming the algorithms of digitization. What is your line of thought regarding this concept?