How to Train Your Staff for EHR Implementation

The time has come to concentrate on implementation after the requirements gathering, budgeting, and selection processes. All system users must receive EHR training, which is a crucial component. However, training must be carried out to consider an organization’s needs and strategic goals, trainees’ competency level and learning preferences, and any other pragmatic considerations that either facilitate or present barriers to training.

The value of an EHR to a healthcare practice depends largely on its users’ ability to make the most of the technology, so implementation and post-implementation training should be a part of an organization’s overall technology strategy. Even with the most sophisticated EHR, an organization that cannot train its users effectively wastes expensive technology resources by depriving users of the skills necessary to use the EHR to its fullest potential.

What Makes EHR Training Crucial?

The advantages of creating confident providers through an efficient training period are increasingly obvious as electronic health records (EHR) systems spread throughout the healthcare sector. The significance of end-user training for EHRs has prompted an expansion of related coursework in medical schools and other programs for training healthcare providers.

Accurate charting and coding, as well as increased productivity and efficiency that benefit providers and their patients, are advantages of effective EHR training programs. The practice also gains from a strong long-term return on its initial investment.

Getting Ready for EHR Training

EHR implementation is no different from any other workplace change that modifies employees’ usual workflows and routines in that it can be stressful. Although there may be setbacks, planning your advanced training can help staff and clinicians feel less anxious and increase the likelihood that the transition will go smoothly. The steps we’ll go over in a moment will assist you in:

• Set a good example.
• Workflows for creating documents
• Analyze the computer literacy of the workforce

4 Steps for a Successful EHR Transition

Possessing the proper attitude is important for successful EHR implementation. Any employee can gain from a willingness to learn new techniques and procedures, so it’s critical to foster that trait whenever you can. To ensure that everyone is on the same page and that you can begin enjoying the benefits of an EHR as soon as possible, consider the following four steps for an EHR training strategy.

Recognize Employee Computer Skills and Offer Introductory Training

This is crucial for practices where most clinical procedures are paper based, with little to no computer use. It might be less important for those who already use practice management software or other medical technologies.

Now is the time to find out if your employees are accustomed to handling complicated tasks on a computer. To attach insurance cards to each patient’s paper chart, your front desk staff may scan and print insurance cards. However, do they know how to save those scanned documents? What if those files were added to the patient’s EHR chart?

Bring employees up to speed after identifying those who require fundamental computer training. If your budget permits, you can pay for courses at a nearby community college, employ a person to train staff in computer use once or twice a week, or use free resources.

Find One or Two Super-Users Who Are Tech Savvy

Leading by example is a great way to get staff members on board with EHR training. You can identify and designate “super-users” in your company who will be the go-to people for staff members with inquiries to support this type of learning. Super-users serve as experts who help distribute the training burden by fully understanding the new system. Finding super-users in your company means looking for people who:

• Are very proficient with computers
• Have a rapid learning curve and are enthusiastic about the capabilities of the EHR.
• Are eager to assist others in learning the new system
• Willing and able to take on leadership roles
• Respected by coworkers

Employee Education in the Most Relevant Fields

The idea that everyone must be an expert in every feature and function of the new system is one of the concepts about EHRs that many people find overwhelming, but this is untrue, impractical, or unreasonable to expect. It not only takes too long and slows down implementation in general, but it can also make workers extremely frustrated and even burn out.

In general, only super-users who can assist others must be intimately familiar with the EHR system. Concentrate your training for additional staff on the features they will use daily. If your organization has a billing department, your staff members must be able to send messages to clinicians, look up insurance data, find billing codes, and submit claims electronically. They do not need to learn how to record diagnoses, review test results, or make patient notes.

Participate In Post-Implementation Feedback Sessions 

Even after the EHR has been fully implemented, training is still required. You might run into some unforeseen difficulties or challenges once your EHR has been installed and you use it daily with every patient. You might need to modify or redesign workflows because some employees might need to be more familiar with certain tasks.

Only by consulting those who are using the EHR software can you quickly identify these problems and avoid mistakes. When planning meetings to get input on the EHR and the training you gave, think about holding them weekly or twice a month. Including workers from various staff departments, such as clinicians, nurses, and administrative staff, is crucial. Every department will have a different opinion on the new changes and ideas for improving EHR use.

Conclusion

An intuitive system can reduce the time and stress needed to implement new technology when training your staff on EHR. Implementing electronic health records (EHR) software frequently encounters some opposition. Staff may find it intimidating to move from a paper-based environment to one that relies on an electronic system, but with the right training, they can master even the most challenging techniques.

Training is not only beneficial. It’s crucial to the implementation process, according to research. It can assist programs in facilitating a smooth transition from paper (or an existing EHR) to an electronic system, helping them avoid setbacks, errors, employee turnover, and other general frustrations.