Organizations spend large amounts of money to purchase, deploy, and optimize their Electronic Health Records (EHRs). They are not plug-n-play systems so a commitment to an ongoing improvement cycle is necessary. When done well, this responds to the people, the process, and the technology. When not done well, complete failure of the system could result in costing the organization thousands of dollars. Based on the foundational premise that EHR governance done right speeds up change and leads to a positive user experience, this book draws upon more than a decade of work with government, academic, and nonprofit organizations using Epic, Allscripts, McKesson, Meditech, and Cerner. Designed to be practical and pragmatic, it outlines a strategic process that can scale to small and large organizations alike. It begins with how to articulate a clear vision to organizational leaders so they can champion strong EHR governance both theoretically and financially. It then walks through each step required for leading successful change, calling out critical lessons learned to help the reader avoid pitfalls and achieve measurable improvement more rapidly. It concludes with a commitment to ongoing growth and refinement through benchmarked metrics, innovation, and out-of-the-box thinking.
