Category: Personalization

From EHR to ROI: Connecting Dots in Physician Efficiency

Posted on | by Jasdeep Mann

This article is the first of a 3-part series where we explore all things physician efficiency, starting with the “why”.

At ReMedi Health Solutions, our Physician Informaticists have coached and trained practicing physicians in EHR efficiency and Personalization for over 15 years. We’ve seen it all—happy doctors, frustrated informatics teams, and passionate, curious super users. Over the past years, Team ReMedi, led by Dr. Sonny Hyare and Dr. Rajeeb Khatua, has developed a novel hybrid model to improve physician performance. We call our approach: Physician Efficiency Sessions. In short: these are highly tailored and custom EHR Personalization sessions conducted by physicians. 

Each session builds upon early-stage Personalization methods that are typically conducted before and during the implementation of a new EHR system (e.g. Epic, Oracle Health). However, ReMedi’s model expands into focused, peer-to-peer efficiency coaching sessions that are specialty-specific. This approach not only enhances EHR proficiency but also addresses the broader issue of physician inefficiency in healthcare.

The Hidden Costs of Physician Inefficiency

Impact on Patient Care

When it comes to physicians underperforming due to the EHR, most would begin crunching the numbers surrounding the impacts to the health system’s bottom line. While the numbers are not small (we will review them later) let’s not forget the real priority in the equation: the patients. 

Patient satisfaction plunges when simple expectations cannot be achieved. At ReMedi, we stress the importance of not allowing the EHR to hinder patient care. When health systems as a whole responsibly deliver care that prioritizes elements such as dignity, autonomy, prompt service and achievement of patient expectations – patients from all walks of life win. Health systems achieve less wait times, greater patient satisfaction scores, and happier clinicians when the EHR is leveraged efficiently.  

Physician Burnout

The link between inefficient EHR use and physician burnout is well-documented. According to recent reports from KLAS Research and the Arch Collaborative, 34% of physicians report some level of burnout, with 54% of these burned-out physicians citing the EHR as a major contributor. Burnout not only affects physicians’ well-being but also their ability to provide optimal care.

As healthcare IT leaders, it’s important that we identify solutions that directly combat some of the leading causes of physician burnout:

  • Staffing shortages
  • Afterhours workload 
  • EHR inhibits efficiency and quality 
  • No control over workload

Doctors that receive EHR Personalization support from a peer report higher efficiency and less burnout. The need for using personalized EHR tools is critical: the doctors using optimized Note Templates, Order lists and Sets, Macros, Filters, Report views experience faster documentation and less burnout.

Regarding implementation and Go-Live, it’s important for physicians to start using the new system efficiently. Generally, classroom training isn’t designed to maximize efficiency. When a physician starts off using the EHR with a peer that coaches them based on their desired workflows, it increases user satisfaction and increases system adoption. 

Financial Implications

Physician burnout has significant financial repercussions for healthcare organizations. Based on a study from the National Bureau of Economic Research, the cost of turnover caused by burnout and inefficiency is estimated at $87,000 per physician. KLAS and the Arch Collaborative’s survey efforts identified 4,279 physicians reporting EHR-related burnout, translating to around $372 million in financial risk.

Personalized EHR Training: Quantifiable Improvements in Healthcare Delivery

Evidence Supporting Personalization Techniques

Basic training and classroom style sessions are useful for the basics of EHR functionality. However they won’t improve chart-closure rates, nor decrease after-hours charting and burnout. In fact, 98% of UTHealth physicians that received Personalization with ReMedi felt more confident using Epic before Go-Live.

As former clinicians, the team at ReMedi recognizes the fact that physicians can be, well, nuanced. For this reason, we find that 1-on-1, peer-to-peer training is the most effective format to improve the efficiency of physicians. As referenced in the levels of training below, peer-to-peer training is the deepest level of training possible and creates the highest likelihood of increased EHR satisfaction for physicians. 


Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8491113/ 

We find that peer-to-peer physician training does more than just build essential skills. It fosters a culture of collaboration across the entire health system. This approach creates best practices and yields improvements in documentation quality, efficiency, and overall clarity of the system. By focusing on physician empowerment and system optimization, our Personalization sessions give providers back what they lack most: time.

By tailoring the EHR training session to the specific needs and workflows of each physician, they become more proficient and comfortable with the system, leading to increased satisfaction and productivity.

Functions of the ReMedi Physician Efficiency Program and Personalization Sessions

  • Continuing EHR Education: Ongoing training ensures physicians stay updated with the latest features and best practices.
  • Improving Clinician Wellness: Efficient EHR use reduces stress and workload, contributing to better mental health.
  • Peer-to-Peer Training: Physicians training physicians fosters a more relatable and effective learning environment.
  • Workflow-Specific Training: Tailored training addresses the unique challenges of different specialties.

Implementing a Culture of Clinician Wellness

Creating a culture that prioritizes clinician wellness is essential for maintaining a happy and productive workforce. Addressing EHR inefficiencies is a critical component of this culture shift. By investing in personalized EHR training, healthcare organizations send a signal to its workforce that they are committed to providing adequate resources and supporting a path to success. 

Why Health Systems Must Invest in EHR Personalization

Long-Term Benefits

Investing in personalized EHR training offers a substantial return on investment. Improved efficiency leads to cost savings, better patient outcomes, and increased physician retention. 

The goal of creating more efficient doctors is not just financial ROI. For physicians, an increase in EHR efficiency dramatically improves job satisfaction, yields less burnout, and increases happiness in and out of the clinic. Overtime, the improvement in physician performance becomes the rising tide that lifts all the other boats (patients, healthcare systems, vendors, start-ups, etc.).

Competitive Advantage

Healthcare organizations that prioritize physician efficiency and wellness position themselves as leaders in the industry, attracting top talent and enhancing their reputation. Moreover, it improves the health system’s reputation among its patients. When a health system’s EHR processes are streamlined, it leads to more accurate documentation, directly impacting quality scores and reimbursement rates. The end-result of EHR efficiency is cultivating a continuous cycle of improved care quality and financial performance.

Regulatory Compliance

Health systems that prioritize EHR efficiency achieve greater levels of regulatory compliance, including more accurate reporting and reducing the potential for issues. We find that when focus is placed on accurate documentation practices, errors go down. By optimizing EHR workflows, organizations can more easily meet requirements for quality reporting. This efficiency also leads to more accurate clinical documentation and precise coding, reducing compliance risks while improving reimbursement through better case mix index and fewer claim denials. In the long-run, streamlined EHR workflows enable robust data analytics, supporting population health management and easier adaptation to evolving regulatory frameworks like MIPS, HCCs, APMs, and others.

Conclusion

Physician inefficiency, particularly with systems like Epic and Oracle Health, has far-reaching implications—from decreased patient satisfaction to significant financial losses due to burnout. ReMedi Health Solutions’ Physician Efficiency Sessions and Personalization solution offer a proven solution to these challenges. By investing in personalized, peer-to-peer EHR training, healthcare organizations can enhance physician efficiency, improve clinician wellness, and ultimately provide better patient care.

Schedule a ReMedi Personalization Program Demo

We invite health system leaders to schedule an interactive demo to better understand how ReMedi’s Personalization program can be implemented to improve physician performance and satisfaction. Visit this link to schedule a demo.

In our next article, we’ll delve into how our unique approach to physician efficiency works and why it stands out in the industry.

Epic User Settings Deep Dive

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An In-depth View of Customizing Epic User Settings for Physicians

Epic provides patients, clinicians, and their care teams with numerous possibilities to deliver outstanding patient experiences. Specifically, when discussing the Personalization of Epic, the system enables clinicians to customize their experience to match the demands of their unique speciality.

Why User Settings are Important for New and Experienced Epic Users

Physicians and clinicians are already overwhelmed with the number of features to learn and the need to maintain patient volumes around the time of Go-Live and post-implementation. With proper training and customization of their Epic User Settings, physicians can have better control and discretion over personalizing their Epic accounts according to their needs and way of working with their patients and staff.

Personalizing the Epic User Settings for Physicians and Clinicians

Fundamentally, we believe the success of Epic is based largely on personalization. Over one-third of all physicians believe that personalization is the most important factor in clinical electronic medical records’ effectiveness.

To date, prominent providers have established specialty-specific templates and workflows for their health systems, but each provider can go a step further and “personalize” their user settings and learn advanced workflows that help them use the system more efficiently. When hospitals offer providers the ability to personalize Epic, it leads to more efficient workflows, better patient care, positive outcomes for patients, and better metrics for hospitals. 

Preparing for Epic Go-Live

Through customization lab sessions and peer-to-peer training, ReMedi’s Epic Physician Team dedicates itself to reducing physician stress, minimizing burnout, and increasing efficiency. Our ReMedi Team consists of board certified and Epic certified MDs that have a deep understanding of clinical and IT environments. The peer-to-peer training model that ReMedi offers hospitals leads to high satisfaction for training physician end-users on Epic. 

Working with ReMedi physicians, healthcare providers and clinicians can learn how to set up and implement Epic SmartPhrases and Macros, templates, order sets, and preference lists to simplify order and note input in personalization labs. ReMedi Physicians assist doctors in creating a toolkit for the most common workflows, allowing clinicians to focus on fine-tuning personalization to meet workflow-specific requirements. Personalization labs, Epic champions, and concierge services also help providers improve their competency and efficiency. 

Improving Physician Efficiency and Organizational Performance

Giving providers one on one training with peers further establishes the health system’s commitment to improving the clinical setting. Training leads to optimizing the way that providers use Epic; hands on training creates the opportunity to build better habits as well as learn advanced workflows. As providers and clinicians learn more about Epic, they develop better control of their workflows, optimizing and boosting their charting and ordering tasks.

The Basics of an Epic User Settings Lab

For new Epic users, it is important to first learn how to create notes and create orders.

Note Creation Inside of Epic

The note is the central point of all patient data, and Epic offers efficiencies within its note functionality that helps doctors prepare comprehensive notes faster and easier. Within the context of creating notes, it’s important to first recognize the specialty of the physician as this will influence the customization of the note. Specifically, using SmartLinks inside of note templates, ReMedi physicians help physicians tailor their note templates so that the notes automatically pre-populate with specific information that allows doctors to focus more on what matters and less on time consuming documentation measures. 

The reason why physicians mastering note writing in Epic is so important is because it leads to better documentation. Moreover, it creates a better story about the patient, and enables clinicians to provide better care and more value to the patient over the long term.  Finally, better documentation results in higher operational efficiency for health systems at large, which when implemented effectively across the board can make significant impact to the way in which healthcare is successfully delivered. 

Learning the Ins and Outs of Orders in Epic

Orders are foundational to getting anything done inside of the clinical setting. Labs, immunizations, transfers, it all begins with an order whether a clinician is providing care in the inpatient or outpatient settings. Order creation is catalyzed by the clinician’s preference list in Epic, so ReMedi physicians generally teach physicians how to update and manage their preference lists to help streamline their workflows. Within preference lists, ReMedi trains physicians on creating favorites, sharing lists, and utilizing order sets based on the specialty of the doctor. 

It is a best practice for organizations to create order sets for different specialties. They are available for all physicians to use to expedite placing orders. Clinicians can personalize these order sets and save them as their own version.

Notably, SmartPhrases and order preferences are the basic benchmarks per Epic. Moreover, ReMedi Physicians go above and beyond when training doctors on Epic by teaching the following tactics:

  • Diving Deeper Into the Why – Our approach is to train doctors to fish instead of simply feeding them with the answers to problems in Epic. Rather than merely providing information, we ensure that providers understand how to use the new EHR effectively.
  • Providing Insight and “Eyebrow Raisers” – ReMedi physicians confront the most difficult challenges and concerns head-on. Furthermore, they provide insight, such that upon “discovering something, this leads to this.”
  • Helping with Navigating – We ensure that the Epic build is up to date and that a clear communication channel is open between our Physician Executives and providers. Furthermore, we aid clinicians in retrieving and entering data, relieving them of the stress of dealing with the technological part of the service.

Undoubtedly, Epic is getting better and better, making work significantly easier for clinicians.

Case Example: ReMedi’s Advanced User Settings Approach for UT Health

The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) recently contracted ReMedi Health Solutions to streamline the implementation of Epic Systems for its 2,000 doctors.

The Epic Implementation process relies largely on having the proper people guiding an organization’s team to ensure success. Moreover, ReMedi acknowledges that Epic implementation is not one size fits all. ReMedi has proven that using physicians to undertake Epic personalization provides clinicians and end-users with an advantage. In fact, as part of a recent partnership with UTHealth, ReMedi’s physicians were able to train and support UTHealth’s practitioners before the transition to Epic. 

At UTHealth, ReMedi provided specialty-specific workflows to over 18 specialities at the academic healthcare institution. Before going into personalization, ReMedi takes the time to understand the clinician’s workflow first. ReMedi believes that however useful Epic can be, it will remain futile if workflows do not match the process of teaching clinicians how to apply them. After getting a good grasp on their workflow, only then will ReMedi proceed with personalizing Epic and updating User Settings.

More specifically, below is ReMedi’s Clinically-Driven approach to personalizing Epic user settings for physicians:

  • Create at least one note template with the SmartPhrases tool
  • Create at least one version of an Order set
  • Create at least one preference list of orders
  • Create at least one Haiku Charges preference list
  • Create at least one QuickAction
  • Create at least one version of a SmartSet
  • Discuss How to setup SmartTools

Conclusion

Epic holds great promise as the future of EHR. But, no matter how great the potential Epic has in streamlining healthcare processes, it would remain stagnant if the EHR training is inadequate and physicians do not receive training from their peers with Epic experience. With ReMedi’s expertise, healthcare providers can be sure of a seamless shift towards the world’s leading modern EHR, Epic Systems.

To connect with our team of physician executives about Epic Systems and EHR, email us at info@remedihs.com.

7 Reasons Why Physician Personalization is the Key to EHR Success

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Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems are becoming a large part of the medical community. EHR systems offer a range of collaborative and customizable tools that help centralize patient care.

However, with all the different opportunities that EHR offers the medical community, some hospital systems and especially doctors find it hard to transition to this new, digitized solution.

Change is rarely easy, but adopting an EHR system into your practice is an advancement that can help everyone in your practice, from the staff to the patients, become more connected, organized, and efficient.

The best way to adapt to using an EHR system is to personalize it for each end-user as much as possible. At ReMedi Health Solutions, we believe that Personalization should be conducted by physicians with clinical experience in the new EHR. Now, from the Virtual Command Center, ReMedi physicians can support more doctors than ever before with their EHR Personalization needs. The virtual solution enables just ten ReMedi physicians to support up to two thousand practicing physicians with Personalization lab sessions!

Here are seven reasons why physician Personalization is key to EHR success:

1. Adoption of the New EHR

Personalization is important for a physician because it helps patients and doctors adopt new EHR systems. A 2019 study conducted by KLAS’ Arch Collaborative found that the adoption and evolution of EHR are cultivated best in an environment where physicians personalize their patients’ systems.

The EHR system or usability does factor into the adoption of new EHR. However, every EHR system is a tool that improves clinical workflow. Similarly to every tech innovation, every EHR system has different functions and interfaces.

Yet, if physicians don’t make it a genuine part of their practice, it will never reach its full capabilities.

To make an EHR system a part of your practice, ensure that every physician sees the benefits of using this powerful technology. Then, doctors need to use it and understand its functionality to become comfortable with it.

Once doctors and staff become genuinely comfortable and excited about the technology’s capabilities, patients will follow suit.

2. Specialty-Specific Workflows

Everyone in the medical industry has an important job to do. Yet, every position in the medical field has a specialty-specific workflow. A doctor and a nurse have two different workflows, schedules, and duties. When you evaluate the means by which surgeons versus anesthesiologists versus primary care physicians see their patients, you realize that each one is tangibly different and will completely use the EHR in a unique way. Therefore, any EHR system you use must adhere to each staff member’s specialty-specific workflow. 

The best way to do that is to personalize the system with someone with an understanding of each specialty. This opportunity is a wonderful way to get your staff involved and invested in learning the system. When people understand that you are helping make the system great for their use, they are more inclined to learn the design and use the system to tailor it to their needs.

3. MD to MD (Peer to Peer)

A 2019 survey indicated that poor EHR training largely impacted the system’s personalization and usability. This survey solidifies the importance of learning from a clinician with background and end-user experience with each EHR system. At ReMedi, our approach to peer to peer training helps our physicians explain and personalize the EHR focusing on the “why” we do things in a specific way with the new system. Most EHR trainers simply show you “how” the EHR works — leaving room for uncertainty, error, and inefficiency. One step further, we share why we document things in a certain way, why we utilize the InBasket/Message Center in the appropriate way. It’s hard for a non-physician to teach a physician why things should be done a certain way, so we have found the MD to MD training to be the most beneficial of all during EHR implementations. 

A clinician with such experience can offer real-world data, best practices, and shortcuts that reduce clicks, making the process much easier. Plus, in this environment, trainees can have all their questions answered for their specific system.

Physician trainee confidence levels grow exponentially when trainees see that another clinician has learned and found success with an EHR system.

At the end of the day, an MD is more inclined to listen to and learn from another MD. Especially when the training EHR physician is outside of their institution, there is little bias involved, and the approach is strictly based on strategy, efficiency and ease of use. The doctor now has a peer who is assuring them that they can understand the EHR system and it will be beneficial to their productivity and patient care practice.

4. Preferences, Favorites, and Customization

A system can only passively pick up on so many preferences. So, the more an individual personalizes a system to fit their needs, the better it performs. However, while professionals personalize their desks, phones, mousepads, and other office supplies, 66% of professionals surveyed by KLAS had little to no personalization added to their EHR system.

The personalization of your EHR system is an integral part of the experience. If you don’t personalize the experience, you disregard a large portion of the system’s overall capabilities.

With most EHR systems, you can input note templates and favorite data unique to the user. Therefore, as the doctor gets accustomed to the EHR, the system tailors itself to optimal customization and productivity.

Our Personalization team at ReMedi has found that if the physician is taught how to correctly use the EHR within the first weeks of the implementation, every hour they spend personalizing and learning the system results in a saved working hour every week from then on.

5. Ease of Use / Functionality

The overall EHR systems design responds well to customization. The system’s best informational asset is the people who are using the system. The more they can offer the system in terms of personalization and customization, the better it can provide ease of use and optimal functionality.

The design intention is what makes it beneficial to have peers teaching peers during the initial setup. However, cultivating ease of use and functionality extends to the willingness of co-workers to train new hires.

Every medical office has specific jargon, ways of filing, and customization of unique operations. Therefore, when a person is new to the practice, even though they will have the ability to customize their own EHR systems workspace, a peer must explain how to use the system.

Similarly to the overall teaching experience, when a peer teaches a peer about the practice’s system, they can share their knowledge and offer tips to make the transition easier.

This collaboration improves usability and functionality overall because everyone is on the same page and can help anyone with a range of aspects throughout the system.

6. Better Patient Care

Ultimately, every medical technological advancement gets implemented to help physicians improve patient care. The implementation of EHR systems is no different.

Personalizing your EHR workspace makes it easy to find everything from patient information to form templates. You have control over the look, organization, and information you have close at hand.

When physicians apply the prior personalization points to their practice, each doctor can focus their full attention on the patient, using this technology as the dynamic tool it is designed to be.

7. Physician Satisfaction

Physician satisfaction occurs when the doctors can navigate the EHR confidently. The confidence they gain while continuously using and learning the EHR system’s capabilities allows physicians to serve more patients promptly, with a better focus on outcomes. Physician burnout goes away when the physician can finish their work inside of their working hours, and head home for some ‘pajama time’ with their loved ones. 

Ultimately, EHR systems are a powerful tool that can help physicians garner satisfaction in their work by organizing the medical process. However, that tool is only as useful as the extent it gets implemented. So, to reach the heights and get the best experience any EHR system can provide, physician Personalization is vital.

Conclusion

At ReMedi, we’re focused on serving physicians in the clinical environment. To learn more about how ReMedi supports its hospital partners with physician Personalization, send us an email at info@remedihs.com.