The message from the HIMSS Virtual Conference and Expo session "The Roadmap of EMR Adoption and IT Hospital Success" was clear: IT implementation isn't just a technology project, it's a clinical one.
The complexity of these projects has been steadily increasing, said Jim Deren, director of IS planning at Troy, Mich.-based CareTech Solutions.
"Moving into the 1990s, hospitals were using more technology - patient scheduling and emergence of web-base technology - and started embracing the PC world," said Deren. "Now, it's been getting much more complex. Organizations have a lot of data output and usage. And over the last two years, meaningful use has become the number-one thing IT people have been talking about."
And, at the heart of meaningful use, said Deren, is the electronic medical record.
Deren laid out four objectives hospitals, physician practices and other healthcare providers need to consider when developing a successful implementation roadmap:
* Identifying opportunities for improvements in IS operations;
* Providing a clear plan to achieve meaningful use;
* Validate the organization's IS plan, and;
* Invest in initiatives that provide the most value.
In addition, Deren said providers also need to think about and identify other aspects of projects that include business objectives, assessing IS capacity, oversight and methodology and eventually considering health information exchange.
"Effective governance is essential in IT implementation and addressing workflow," Deren said. "The plan will be a powerful communication tool that will let providers know what resources they need and have available."
The idea of quality also needs to be in the forefront of providers' minds when scouting out IT implementations. Heidi Blizzard, nursing informatics project manager at Rochester, Mich.-based Crittenton Hospital, stressed that, at the end of the day, it's about quality care.
"Healthcare organizations need to make sure that all the clinical staff are on-board,"said Blizzard. "Keep coming back to quality and don't ever tell a physician that it's faster to use a computer than paper. They will be quick to tell you that it's not."
Both Deren and Blizzard agree that most barriers encountered during IT implementations involve the users. Blizzard said that communication and planning are the best solutions to most of the issues new users face.
"The more you plan and communicate, the less you have to go back a rework these projects," said Blizzard. "The easier it is for physicians, the more they will be open to use it."
Deren recommended a three-year implementation plan to providers new to IT implementations. Starting one of these projects on the right foot can make all the difference between failure and success.
