Process Improvement with Electronic Health Records: A Stepwise Approach to Workflow and Process Management

Although physicians and hospitals are receiving incentives to use electronic health records (EHRs), there is little emphasis on workflow and process improvement by providers or vendors. As a result, many healthcare organizations end up with incomplete product specifications and poor adoption rates.

Process Improvement with Electronic Health Records: A Stepwise Approach to Workflow and Process Management walks you through a ten-step approach for applying workflow and process management principles regardless of what stage your organization is in its EHR journey. Introducing workflow and process mapping as essential elements in healthcare improvement, it includes detailed guidance, helpful tools, and case studies in each chapter. It also:

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  Compares EHR workflow and process management to other continuous quality improvement methodologies
• Highlights the processes that need to be addressed in EHR workflow and process redesign
• Describes the level of detail necessary for workflow and process mapping to be effective
• Explains how to create change agents and offers time-tested change management tools

The book describes the process for getting stakeholders to create, document, and validate new workflows and processes. Using case studies to illustrate the unique requirements of health information technology (HIT) and EHR acquisition, this reference provides you with simple yet powerful tools along with step-by-step guidance for the effective use of workflow and process mapping within healthcare.

Margret Amatayakul is a health information management professional with a passion for automating medical records since her first professional job included creating a retinal disease registry on punch cards! She is currently president of Margret\A Consulting, LLC.