EMRs - Electronic Medical Records
Up next was Dr. James Couch, who spoke about the importance, benefits and risks of EMRs in today’s physician practice.
He said that only 13 percent of practices in the United States have EMRs in place, and of that 13 percent, just four percent are fully functional. At practices with more than five physicians, he noted that less than two percent are using EMRs. He added, however, that many initiatives are underway that are focused on increasing the adoption of EMRs.
Dr. Couch encouraged practice staff members in attendance speak to the doctors they work with and make a business case for EMRs and be willing to serve as the chief advocate and facilitator of EMR implementation at their practices.
The key message of Dr. Couch’s presentation was that if a practice decides to go electronic, staff needs to strike the perfect balance between gained efficiencies without compromising patient safety.
Communication Techniques
“Communication in healthcare matters,” stated Healthcare Risk Consultant Russ Pride.
Pride stressed that the impact of communication is far-reaching, and can affect key elements in a practice, such as: patient safety, treatment outcomes, patient adherence, patient satisfaction and even claims.
“Without effective communication, patients feel a lack of compassion, they may think the doctor and/or staff members are totally disinterested and even condescending,” he said.
“Communication breakdown” is one of the primary contributing factors in healthcare litigation, said Pride, adding that when communication fails, patients take action. “They may complain to the Board of Medical Examiners, share their unfavorable experience with others or even consult an attorney to review their options.”
As an approach to avoiding communication breakdown, Pride offered the “4E” method: ENGAGE - EMPATHY - EDUCATE - and ENLIST.
Service Excellence Strategies
Dr. Wendy Leebov, widely known patient safety advocate and author of several healthcare bestsellers, next took center stage to offer up different ways practice staff members could work to enhance the patient’s experience.
In addition to many hands-on, interactive scenarios and activities she used to illustrate her points, Dr. Leebov also offered fundamental messages to keep in mind when communicating with patients – messages that will ultimately increase patient satisfaction, patient safety and reduce risk:
- You are not a number.
- You, uniquely you, matter to me.
- I respect your thoughts and feelings.
- I want you to feel my support.
- Yes, I’m here to care for you. And I also care ABOUT you.
Following the workshop, attendees responded with overwhelmingly positive feedback, stating that they not only obtained valuable knowledge on topics that are somewhat new to them, but that they also gained a fresh perspective on basic issues that come up in the practices where they work every day.
Princeton Insurance offers customized programs and/or “lunch-and-learns” to you and your office staff. To arrange for this free service, please call our Risk Resource Line at 1-866-RX4-RISK (1-866-794-7475).