EHR Needs assessment
definition of a Needs Assessment
- implementing an EHR requires that you conduct a needs assessment, identify and quantify measures of success, and determine the methods for maximizing ongoing benefit realization.
- needs assessment as a systematic process to develop an accurate understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of a business process in terms of efficiency and quality
- this understanding is used to set and prioritize goals, to develop a plan, and to allocate resources.
Function of needs assessment
- who needs what information, at what times, and in what locations for what purposes?
- this question is asked for existing work flows processes and then reviewed when designing optimized work-flows
- to assess current work-flows and design optimized work-flows
- then assessed software functionality that would be needed to achieve the optimized work-flows.
Important goals need to be balanced:
- patient safety
- health care quality
- process efficiency
- other organizational business plans and goals
- EHR usability
Measures of Success
- Explicit measures of success (short-term and long-term) are critical to the success of an implementation
- Provide the meas of monitoring the progress of the project and communicating that progress
-Identify new measures as the implementation progresses (or modify existing measures based on ongoing review)
- Care quality versus financial, and quantitative vs directional
+ Directional benefits are difficult to quantify
+ On the other hand, number of lines of transcription is a quantifiable measure.
+ Improved care processes can also be measured quantitatively
