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S O F T W A R E
S O L U T I O N
ing is evolving to the electronic medium, so now's the time to bring
your facility up to date. No one likes altering daily routines, even if the
potential payoff is worth stepping out of their comfort zones. But
don't fear the unknown. Memorial went live with the charting and
business office portions of its system on the same day. The go-live
date went far easier than they expected, especially to staff members
who were around when the first system went online.
Staff feedback has been positive. There were of course some initial
kinks to work through, but Ms. Sarasin points out they can continually tweak the system as unplanned deficiencies are noticed or their
documentation needs change.
"We were able to build the system to make it our own," she says.
"Nobody's system looks exactly like ours. For us, that's been the best
part of the process. We now joke about how we used to chart the
other way."
After years of frustration, they're finally able to laugh. OSM
E-mail dcook@outpatientsurgery.net.
PAPERLESS PERKS
4 Hidden Benefits of EMRs
T
here's a sizable up-front cost to getting an EMR system live, but the
investment is worth it when you consider the not-so-obvious benefits
you'll realize.
1. Organized records. The standardization of electronic charting is a huge
plus for Cheryl Bloode, RN, the director of Memorial Spine and
Neuroscience Center in South Bend, Ind. — everything related to patients'
visits is presented exactly the same way every time.
When she's auditing patient records, she knows what needs to be documented, which pages to look for and where to find them. Instead of search-
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O U T PAT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E | N O V E M B E R 2013
