EHR Implementation is a Journey, Not a Destination

If you have seen one physician practice, you have seen one physician practice. I often hear that phrase when talking with healthcare executives about best practices and lessons learned from successful electronic health record implementations. Health systems, hospitals, and clinics all have their own unique personality that is shaped by their geographic and organizational culture. That means there is no set formula to guarantee a successful EHR implementation. Organizations must find the path that works best for them.

A recent report by healthcare market research firm IDC Health Insights analyzed how two Norwegian hospitals—St. Olavs Hospital in Trondheim and Ahus Hospital in Oslo—successfully adopted digital technologies. The study, "Best practices: Norway's hospital evolution—A tale of two cities," concluded that there wasn't a single template for successful health IT implementations. Both projects were full replacements of aging facilities, but they used different methods to realize the vision of a digital hospital.

For example, St Olavs chose a single-vendor and an outsourced solution, whereas, Ahus worked with multiple vendors, retained some of its legacy systems, and managed its IT transformation internally. Even though Ahus was able to adopt more mature technology, since it began its implementation two years later than St. Olavs' project, both systems are now fully operational and their digital transformations deemed a success by their staff members and communities.

Similarly, there are various examples of successful EHR implementations here in the United States. All one has to do is take a look at the 2009 HIMSS Davies Award of Excellence recipients, which were announced this past week by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society.

These institutions are viewed as leaders in the IT world for their ability to not just implement EHR technology, but realize better patient safety, outcomes, and return on investment as a result of the technology. The 2009 Davies Award recipients are

• MultiCare Health System, a four-hospital system in Tacoma, WA, that includes a children's hospital, primary and urgent care clinics, home health, and hospice programs, won the Organizational Davies Award.
• Virginia Women's Center, which is the largest provider of individualized obstetric and gynecologic care in Central VA, with 26 physicians and 12 nurse practitioners at five clinical sites, won the Ambulatory Davies Award.
• The Community Health Davies Award recipients were Urban Health Plan, a network of federally qualified community health centers based in the South Bronx and Queens, and Heart of Texas, a federally qualified health center serving some 90,000 residents of McLennan County, TX. Both organizations serve impoverished communities.
• The Public Health Davies Award went to the Boston Public Health Commission and Denver Public Health, a division within Denver Health and Hospital Authority.

Even though these institutions are all different, they do share one trait—the recognition that adopting EHR technology is a journey to provide better care for their patients not a destination.

The best place for healthcare providers to start on their path to adopting EHR systems is to ensure their board members, C-suite executives, staff members, and physicians truly understand that adopting an EHR system will require continual investment and support. Successfully implementing electronic health record systems is just the beginning.