“The ‘human element’ is critical to health IT implementation” concludes a Health Affairs article co-authored by Melinda Beeuwkes Buntin and David Blumenthal from the ONC. Sadly, the human element is often lost in health IT implementation and this may be one of the reasons that providers have historically been hesitant to adopt or meaningfully use their adopted systems.
A friend of mine is an orthodontist in the Bay Area. We talked shop last weekend. I updated him on my work with Practice Fusion and he told me of his latest woes in running an orthodontist practice. Last week he switched his orthodontics EHR. He described the experience as nightmarish. The company he elected was expensive, the staff woefully unprepared, and his work to switch extensive and stressful. Although he was terribly disappointed with his previous vendor, he already didn’t want to use the software after only one day of ownership! This is part of the story that the Health Affairs article describes through an exhaustive literature review and statistical analysis.
The key results of the study are telling. Despite recent articles claiming that HIT does little to improve care or reduce costs, this study takes a longitudinal approach to reviewing literature surrounding HIT use and implementation and finds that 62% of studies demonstrated only positive results from HIT implementations and use. Further, 92% of studies demonstrated primarily positive outcomes resulting from HIT use. Interestingly, the study also revealed that the literature demonstrates very positive outcomes resulting from implementation of meaningful use criteria. This is all great news, but what about the negative findings?
Not surprisingly, many of the negative findings where HIT hindered rather than helped produce improved outcomes were closely associated with low provider satisfaction that spans the gamut from implementation, training, and use to staff buy-in and engaged leadership. This has been the experience of thousands of providers who have adopted legacy EHR systems. This is precisely why Practice Fusion has concentrated heavily on user satisfaction and accessibility. By providing award-winning service and an intuitive product, Practice Fusion is helping to promote more productive HIT implementations that will yield positive health and financial outcomes for practices and their patients. This study underscores what Practice Fusion has known for years – change is needed in the HIT space to observe true progress.
CMS and other payers will be able to capitalize on the successes of Practice Fusion and other HIT vendors that simplify and improve the user experience to test and implement innovative care delivery and payment mechanisms. This is truly the desired end result of any health reform initiative and a necessary component to improve health outcomes. These are certainly exciting times in the HIT world!
Thomas McMennamin
Health Policy Manager
Practice Fusion EHR
