There's no question that an electronic medical record system can improve your practice's efficiency and productivity. However, without full buy-in from everyone on your staff, you'll never achieve the performance results you anticipate.

It's one thing to know that you need staff buy-in, it's another thing entirely to know how to get it. Here are the steps to take to get participation, cooperation and collaboration from staff members at all levels, and increase your chances for a more rapidly successful electronic medical record implementation.

Convey The Urgent Need For Change

Making a major change in your medical practice is hard enough. Trying to make that change when people don't recognize the need for it is a recipe for failure.

Everyone in your practice needs to understand the factors that make the new electronic medical record system desirable or even essential - for example: the ability to streamline work and enhance patient care, the opportunity to reduce costs and increase productivity, and the ability to adapt to changes in patient needs, 3rd party demands and new government requirements.

However, while you may make a great logical case for change, people don't make decisions based on logic alone. Emotions are a powerful factor. You need to make sure that your staff not only understands the logical reasons for implementing the electronic medical records system, but also understands what the consequences will be to them personally if the implementation isn't successful.

When you present the new electronic medical records system as a way for the practice to continue to operate profitably - despite challenges, to continue to provide quality care to your patients, and to continue to provide your valued staff with employment, you're likely to capture their attention.

Keep People Informed

People don't really fear change. What triggers fear is uncertainty.

The worst thing you can do is to keep people in the dark about your plans. This encourages rumors and leads people to start grumbling about their jobs and worrying about their futures.

When it comes to implementing an electronic medical record system in the practice, one of the biggest concerns people have is whether the new technology will take away their jobs.

In light of today's economic realities, no one really expects guarantees of job security. However, what they can and should expect are honest answers to tough questions.

People will want to know:

* How the electronic medical record system will impact their work and their futures
* What new expectations you and the practice have of them
* What new skills they will need to meet these expectations
* How they will be trained and supported for these new challenges
* How their performance will be assessed

The fact is, the new electronic medical record system will make some tasks unnecessary, and some skills irrelevant. However it's important for you to recognize, and to communicate to everyone, that when work gets reorganized, and when certain tasks are no longer necessary, people can be moved to more profitable activities. For example, if implementing the new electronic medical record system will allow you to increase your patient load, you may need staff to shift to more patient-centered activities in order to take advantage of these new opportunities.

Harness the Power of Collaboration

Regardless how large your practice is, a new IT system will impact the work of staff members at all levels. To get the maximum value from that system, and to increase the speed of getting to that value, you need discretionary effort and enthusiastic collaboration from everyone in your practice.

First, when it comes to designing the system and reengineeringing the workflow, you must get your staff's perspective. They are closest to much of the work of the practice and can offer suggestions and ideas that can facilitate implementation and reduce the expenses and the temporary productivity slow-downs that inevitably accompany any new electronic medical record system implementation.

Second, if you want to mobilize people to not only cooperate, but to give their best effort, you need to allow them to participate in developing plans. You may have heard the expression,"People who plan the battle, rarely battle the plan." If staff members at all levels are involved with the development of the implementation strategy, they will have a vested interest in its success.

The way to do that is through a series of interactive workshop-style staff meetings that elicit staff ideas and engage staff members in creating their own future.

Show People What's In It For Them

The real secret of successful change management is to show people what's in it for them. You can accomplish this in two ways.

First, by showing how the electronic medical record system will positively impact people's work and enhance their job satisfaction. For example, once implemented, will the system eliminate the frustration of lost charts and information? Reduce tedious tasks? Improve documentation and coding accuracy? Allow staff to get home earlier?

The second way to show people what's in it for them is to attach rewards and recognition to specific goals and milestones. Offering team bonuses for increased practice productivity, increased referrals and increased patient satisfaction can be very effective in building a cooperative environment. However, it can take a while to get to significant performance increases.

Establishing intermediate milestones, "small wins" - like getting a specific system module successfully up and running, or achieving a certain reduction in transcription usage - can go a long way to building momentum and can help to convert any lingering skeptics.

These kind of rewards and recognition are tangible pay-offs that fuel the fire of motivation.

Jane S. Adler, MD is founder and president of NeoVista Health Strategies, a provider of resources and information for higher performance in healthcare. She is a co-creator of The Road to Excellence System™ for maximizing staff performance and productivity in clinical practices, and author of How to Position Your Clinical Practice for Outstanding Success and A Profitable Practice is Everyone's Business.



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