Similar the field of medicine the field of electronic health records changes regularly. During the initial training of an electronic health record system, the providers and staff should have a basic understanding of how to register a patient, take the vitals, record the visit and if needed, send an electronic prescription. The initial training and initial use of the system will require the most work and effort to optimize the transition from paper to electronic records.
The initial training is only the start. I like to compare this as learning to ride a bike without training wheels. The first time a person is able to ride without training wheels they need to consciously think of how to balance, place feet, stop, etc. As the person spends more time riding the bike, the easier it is to increase the speed at which you ride the bike, increase the speed on corners. As the skill improve, the biker rides in a subconscious manner. Additional training should increase the ability of the biker.
Similar, when utilizing a new electronic health record system, the first few uses on the system is like the biker on the training wheels. Recommend there be 2 to 3 point people in the practice whom become ‘expert’ users. These can either be individuals that quickly move through the ‘training wheel’ phase and/or leaders in the group whom have a good affinity for computers and training. These individuals should provide training tips/updates to the practice (maybe during lunch) on a routine basis (every other month). The Health Information technology field is a dynamic and chaining field. You EMR system should be continuously improving and evolving.
