There is a view that implementing an EMR solution will magically provide cost effective and efficient patient care, and will improve the overall quality of care for individuals.  In the past decade, billions of public and private money around the globe has been invested in these solutions, to move from paper to electronic health records. Yet many health care executives, both public and private, are beginning to question the ROI of these expenditures and the effectiveness of the solutions. What has this money bought?

There are many surveys that indicate true ROI realisation is not seen for at least five years and in most cases ten years or beyond.  In addition, the political and professional risk involved in these investments is extremely high.   The landscape is littered with the careers of CIOs and CEOs who took the direction of implementing EMR solutions that ran over budget and/or fell way behind on timescales.  

Most EMR implementations include high cost, long lead times, change in clinical and other hospital processes and the training required to learn how to use new electronic tools. All of these are impediments to a successful EMR implementation and ROI realisation.  EMRs will only be effective in improving efficiency and quality of care if implemented correctly and quickly. 

We need to create solutions that replicate the paper charts and forms currently in-use but which add the decision support required within them, streamline existing workflows and improve the governance within these processes while leaving the current workflows intact.  Solutions need to be able to be rolled out sequentially across an organisation without disruption and should be easily learned, improving employee satisfaction and future adoption of other electronic solutions. 

In taking smaller steps with agile solutions, health delivery organisations can stay focused on the patient, while maximising total ROI on implementing electronic solutions, rapidly.

Jeff Smoot -  Commercial Director, Sláinte Healthcare

Jeff joined Sláinte as Global Vice President of Sales & Marketing. He has extensive experience in Healthcare, previously working for companies such as Allscripts, Cerner and Fujitsu Technology Solutions. Jeff was awarded a BSBA by the University of Denver and an MBA from the Loyola College in Maryland in the USA, he has responsibility Sláinte Healthcare's sales and marketing strategy throughout Europe, the Middle East, Australia and the UK.

LinkedIn: au.linkedin.com/pub/jeffrey-smoot/17/239/5aa