What are effective ways to persuade physicians to use electronic health records?

There are very few docs NOT using EHR today. But paper is very inefficient, and today coding is nearly impossible by hand. When we implemented EHR, it allowed us to cut overhead 10% and RAISE physician productivity 9%. As a result, given our high overhead, incomes rose 42% that year. Find an EHR that is not too customizable, covers your needs, and allows you to train staff as superusers, so you become self-sustaining. Get your hospital to help to the legal extent possible. Automate everything you can without losing the personal touch, and devote your quality improvement efforts to improvements that can be done electronically. We did, and it kept our independent practice alive for another 9 years

I am not sure that it is accurate to say that "physicians resist EHRs." In this digital age, most physicians perceive the potential benefit of EHR. Mind you, there has been a mandate since 2014 (HITECH) for all medical practices to adopt EHR or face hefty fines or be excluded from some federal programs. In fact, the latest AMA studies show that EHR adoption rates are in the 88-90% as of 2021 across the country. Although EHR adoption has the potential to improve quality, safety, efficiency, and patient engagement, there are nuances to its use including user Interface complexity, burdensome manual data entry, poor integration with digital health, and limited interoperability. In my opinion, these are the obstacles to effective use.

The answer is better integration of EHRs with technology- all of it available today and my Ophthalmologist already does it halfway there! He doesn't even look at the EHR running on a system in the room. He talks to his earbud to a nurse practitioner who handles the EHR including the imaging parts. He dictates notes, she records them in the EHR, interprets the imaging and tells him what she sees. Later on my ophthalmologist inspects the visit summary and notes, makes corrections if any. Everything is finalized and pushed out to the Patient Portal with his approval. Physicians have long complained that looking at EHR and filling it out takes time. No need. Technology exists to automate all of the manual tasks.

In fact, different specialties and subspecialties possess different clinical workflows. Therefore, "one-sized (EHR) does not fit all." An often overlooked consequence of the HITECH Act is the heavy proliferation of different EHR systems. Unfortunately, this has been for commercialization and not necessarily for specialization. With time, certain EHR systems allow customization or specialization in an effort to reduce friction and disruption in adopting EHRs. It is not unheard of to have clinical practices go through several EHRs before adopting one that fits their workflow. Unfortunately, this can be costly and frustrating to staff, providers, and patients alike. The key is matching the right EHR to improve and not disrupt workflow.

GIVE THEM TIME to learn. We are auto-didacts, most of us. But we can't learn something like this on the fly on top of all the other responsibilities we have. Find a way to teach without it being a painful time wasting 7am meeting with someone droning away in front of a Power Point presentation. Hands-on for most of us, workshops, 'playground' formats, etc. When we go live, give us the time in our schedules to do the inevitable fumbling around, pausing to think, and back tracking. We all want our record keeping to work, but this is a skill that takes time to acquire and varying levels of facility with computers and innumerable ways of charting have to be accounted for. Specialty-specific, efficient, and clear.

Regarding the differences among EMR systems, they can vary in terms of user interface design, implementation process, pricing models, scalability, and specific features offered. The level of customization, integration capabilities, and support provided by the vendors may also differ. It is crucial for healthcare organizations to evaluate their specific needs and requirements before selecting an EMR system that aligns with their goals and workflows. The key to EHR adoption is reducing physician burnout by minimizing workflow disruption, improving efficiency, and allowing customization.