Taming the EHR Playbook

The electronic health record (EHR) has profoundly changed the practice of medicine and is perceived as both a blessing and a burden by clinicians who use it. While most EHRs now have customizable tools that, if used optimally, can save physicians time, there are also many more unnecessary clicks and automated messages clogging up inboxes.

The EHR burden is a major contributor to physician burnout, and it has become a problem that individual physicians cannot fix on their own. It is imperative for organizations to learn how to tame the EHR by implementing effective policies and continuous system-level improvement.

The Taming the EHR Playbook addresses the challenges created by EHRs so that clinicians and their practices can:

1. Minimize unnecessary work at the system level and reengineer the flow of messages into the EHR inbox
2. Use team-based care principles to offload inbox management, order entry, chart review and documentation from physicians alone
3. Become more proficient at using EHR technology

What you'll get

Access practical tools that you can use to get started on several of the new or adapted processes outlined in the playbook, including: 

• Letter and questionnaire templates
• Implementation checklists
• Visuals on team assignments
• Inbox reduction checklists
• Sample intake processes
• And more

Those interested in maximizing the benefits while minimizing the burdens of the EHR can learn from this playbook, particularly the following roles:

• Daily EHR users (e.g., physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses and medical assistants)
• Organizational leaders (e.g., chief medical information officers [CMIOs] and chief compliance officers [CCOs])
• Medical directors
• Practice managers
• Operations leaders

AMA STEPS Forward® presents actionable, practical toolkits and customizable resources that you can use to successfully implement meaningful and transformative change in your practice or organization. Learn more.