I worked for Jim Gargiulo, Executive VP at Netsmart Techonologies for a number of years, and he would become frustrated when we discussed the EHR in static terms. “It’s a journey!,” He’d exclaim. 
The Office of the National Coordinator is taking this evolving view for the EHR.
The ONC promises that the requirements of certification will need to be updated as times, treatment methods and tools evolve, and change seems to be the only real constant in this universe.
The ONC says that some policies and standards will come into play, then later be phased out or replaced. In order to accommodate this way of doing business, the software industry has included tools to modify your EHR to suit a changing environment. The tools are sometimes inadequate. Some companies don’t want to give up control of your EHR. Usually tools would work fine to whip up a screen and include a report to reflect new policies & standards, as long as you have somebody on staff who has the wherewithal to use them. When they’re inadequate, you pay money for a programmer to help, and her baby needs shoes, Billy needs braces, and Sally’s going to college next year.
Wake up, my friends. Provider agencies need somebody working for them who can do a few things: • Design forms and reports (and if tools enable it, Electronic Data Interchange files) • Include workflow processes at all levels of the agency in updates • Implement using a rapid cycle change methodology or something like it • Incrementally update and implement the design when changes come • Roll out changes EFFECTIVELY to staff requiring them, and be savvy in convincing the staff to look forward to changes
If you need help with this, click on “About Terry McLeod” above…my contact information is at the bottom of that page.
Installment 5 of this series will discuss more about certification options and your decision to maintain an enterprise system or opt for a modular approach.
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