Question

Describe how to assess a healthcare facilitys readiness for the implementation of an EHR system.

Answer 1

Ans) Today is information age and the explosion of information technology has transformed every area of life and work.

- Information is so valuable and it must be well documented, maintained, retrieved and analyzed.

- In health management systems, information has a special role in planning, evaluation, training, legal aspects and research. In fact, the first distinction between developed and developing countries, are the production, application and utilization of information.

- So, with advent of information technology in health care, moving toward a new paradigm such as electronic health record has also begun. In this paradigm, Information is immediately accessible and electronic health record can also provide medical alerts and reminders. At first, it may be so expensive but it will save costs in long term.

- Despite broad agreement on the benefits of electronic health records and other forms of health information technology, health care providers have moved so slowly to adopt these technologies.

- Lack of readiness causes weakness of organization to undergo transformation during the implementation of EHR. While EHR adoption has been low in some developed countries, the success of EHR adoption has also been low for developing countries, and it can be due to constrained resources, lack of required information technology support and stake holders’ awareness for moving to adopt new system.

- Sufficient preparation in an organizational perspective enables to custom the system and ensures minimal workflow disruptions and irregularity during and after implementation.

- Decision makers must accept that Electronic Health (E-Health) evaluation may serve different purposes for different stakeholders. It must be noted that Implementing or transition to a new information system and generally technology advents may cause to fear, anxiety, and computer phobia and so staff acceptance for using information systems have been found to be major determinants of system success.

- Knowing about readiness assessment and its areas, indications and requirements can facilitate to implement any information system.