I found this chart on Twitter through one of our followers and I thought I'd share it with all of our friends and readers:
One of the things I think is really interesting about the first part of the above chart is that physicians whose offices met or exceeded Meaningful Use criteria reported more satisfaction with EHRs at their practice. It makes me wonder if the reason for so many claims of dissatisfaction come, partially, from a lack of training and/or full implementation.
For example, an EHR that does not meet meaningful use is more likely to not be used to its fullest potential. Some practices may be keeping patient history in electronic records for new patients, but referring to older paper records for older information. Or maybe they are tracking information from new appointments but not all follow up calls or medications. It makes sense that those practices would be less satisfied overall considering they aren't fully utilizing the tools they have.
One thing we think can solve that is better (and earlier!) training. If a staff is more comfortable with electronic health records systems from previous experience using an Academic EHR in the classroom, they won't be as fearful of going 100% electronic. They will also understand just how to integrate EHRs into the daily workflow without interruption.
And for those nurses and doctors in the field - if you're unsatisfied with your EHR,
ask for more training before you write it off! There may be all sorts of benefits you just haven't discovered yet!