Electronic Health Record Strategic Planning

The benefits of creating a shared electronic health record, such as improved patient care, reduced duplicate testing, and reduced costs, have been documented in numerous studies. There is broad understanding that organizations and regions need to “Get the right information to the right clinician at the right time with the right security and privacy safeguards”. The problem is how to implement such a system. Given the numerous approaches to sharing patient information, including integrating existing systems, creating a portal that spans systems, or developing a consolidated HIS, determining the best way to move forward can be a challenge. Healthtech's approach analyzes the level of health records automation across the participating organizations and determines which pieces of the EHR “puzzle” are present, and  then creates a realistic plan to implement the missing pieces. Healthtech has supported numerous clients as they have made the transition from paper to electronic records and from single organization electronic medical records to regional electronic health records. Each of these transitions begins by developing a thorough understanding of the current state, determining several viable paths forward, and determining amongst the options, which is best suited to the participants.

In the strategic plan, Healthtech Consultants will consider the following key elements:

·         Components of the chart that are not yet in electronic form

·         The level of clinical standardization across the participating organizations

·         The technologies currently used by each organization to store data

·         Each organization’s information management roadmap

·         Each organization’s strategic plan

·         The level of adoption achieved by the current electronic components and the steps required to achieve 100% adoption across key areas

·         The resource constraints and competing priorities faced by each participating organization.

Healthtech’s Electronic Health Record Strategic Planning offering provides organizations and regions with a realistic roadmap that outlines a sound technical approach to moving towards the electronic health record.  More importantly, it provides a detailed plan for managing clinical change across multiple organizations, supported by the EHR that will result in improved patient care, fewer duplicate tests, and lower costs across the health system.

For further information on Healthtech Consultants’ process redesign services, please contact Paul Geukers, Director of Business Development at 416.483.5974, extension 65 or by e-mail at info@healthtech.ca