A P R I L 2 0 1 6 O U T P A T I E N TS U R G E R Y. N E T 2 7
it's either only fair (35.6%) or downright poor
(25.2%).
For Ms. Hummel, training and support with the
new system set the tone. "It was so easy," she
says. "There was a tutorial for everybody to go
through at their own leisure, and (the vendor)
had staff here for 2 days after we went live."
Strong backup also factors heavily into the
overall satisfaction that Kathy Tafoya, RN, clini-
cal nurse manager at Saginaw Valley Endoscopy
Center in Saginaw, Mich., has with her system. "We have support 24/7," she says.
"If someone can't get on the EMR at 6:30 in the morning, I call them and they
get on remotely and fix it. We also have a company that takes care of our server.
They have to be able to communicate and resolve issues, and they do. That's
important."
Patricia Keenan, RN, CASC, administrator of Safety Harbor Surgery Center in
Clearwater, Fla., echoes that enthusiasm. "Technical support is just a phone call
away," she says. "They can log on and assist us with any problems we have and
usually resolve them before the phone call is over."
Compare those experiences to the support nightmares others describe, and
it's easy to see why opinions diverge so dramatically. "Our EMR consultants
have the worst customer service," says Jill Crump, RN, CNOR, director of surgi-
cal services at Howard Memorial Hospital in Nashville, AR. "They never follow
up on resolutions. They never call back. We have to take all the initiative."
Plenty of pluses
If you're among the dissatisfied, disillusioned or poorly supported, it's fair to
assume you're missing out on some substantial benefits associated with EMRs.
For example: "Once we schedule a patient in our management system, it auto-
• HELP LINE Most readers say they could use
better training and support from EMR vendors.
Pamela
Bevelhymer,
RN,
BSN
