6 Ways to Get Physicians on Board with Decision Support

This article appears in the May 2012 issue of HealthLeaders magazine.

The successful adoption of clinical decision support at Penn Medicine in Philadelphia came after years of work that included physicians and other clinicians in the development process, says Michael Restuccia, vice president and CIO.

These are some of the important steps in the Penn process:

1. Clinical IT governance group: Penn established a high-level governing group that helps set IT priorities and ensures that the necessary resources are available. Included in it are the chief medical officer, chief administrative officer, pharmacy director, executive director of clinical practices, corporate senior VP, and CFO.

2. Dedicated implementation and support: Penn hired a number of outside consultants to complement its employees, creating a skilled team with significant subject-matter expertise. While implementing its EMR system, each practice established a governance committee made up of clinical and administrative staff. Those groups worked with the information services team, deciding how areas such as work flow and data conversion would work.