Process Improvement with Electronic Health Records: A Stepwise Approach to Workflow and Process Management

  • 5h 7m
  • Margret Amatayakul
  • CRC Press
  • 2012

Although physicians and hospitals are receiving incentives to use electronic health records (EHRs), there is little emphasis on workflow and process improvement by providers or vendors. As a result, many healthcare organizations end up with incomplete product specifications and poor adoption rates.

Process Improvement with Electronic Health Records: A Stepwise Approach to Workflow and Process Management walks you through a ten-step approach for applying workflow and process management principles regardless of what stage your organization is in its EHR journey. Introducing workflow and process mapping as essential elements in healthcare improvement, it includes detailed guidance, helpful tools, and case studies in each chapter. It also:

  • Compares EHR workflow and process management to other continuous quality improvement methodologies
  • Highlights the processes that need to be addressed in EHR workflow and process redesign
  • Describes the level of detail necessary for workflow and process mapping to be effective
  • Explains how to create change agents and offers time-tested change management tools

The book describes the process for getting stakeholders to create, document, and validate new workflows and processes. Using case studies to illustrate the unique requirements of health information technology (HIT) and EHR acquisition, this reference provides you with simple yet powerful tools—along with step-by-step guidance—for the effective use of workflow and process mapping within healthcare.

About the Author

Margret Amatayakul is a health information management professional with a passion for automating medical records since her first professional job included creating a retinal disease registry on punch cards! She is currently president of Margret\A Consulting, LLC. The firm provides integrated delivery systems, hospitals, physician practices, vendors, health plans, their business associates, and the legal and investment communities with consulting, freelance technical writing, and educational programming to improve quality and cost-effectiveness of the strategic business of health care through IT. Margret is also adjunct professor in the health information and informatics management master’s program at the College of St. Scholastica; and co-founder and member of the board of examiners of Health IT Certification, LLC. Margret has formerly held positions as the associate executive director of the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA), associate professor at the University of Illinois Medical Center, and director of the medical record department at the Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary. She is the author of numerous books, textbook chapters, and articles on electronic health records and HIPAA/HITECH privacy and security compliance. She has served on the board of directors of the Healthcare Information Management and Systems Society (HIMSS) and is active in several other professional health informatics organizations.

In this Book

  • Introduction to Workflow and Process Management in Health Care
  • Workflow and Process Management Overview
  • Step 1—Assess Readiness for Workflow and Process Management
  • Step 2—Compile Process Inventory
  • Step 3—Select Tools and Train Team
  • Step 4—Map Current Workflows and Processes
  • Step 5—Obtain Baseline Data
  • Step 6—Validate Workflow and Process Maps
  • Step 7—Identify Process Redesign Opportunities
  • Step 8—Conduct Root Cause Analysis to Redesign Workflows and Processes
  • Step 9—Implement Redesigned Workflows and Processes
  • Step 10—Monitor Goal Achievement with Redesigned Workflows
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