One Reason to Get Physicians Involved at the Beginning of CPOE Implementation

[Dr. Juliet Mbonu, DNP, RN, PMP]

As you know, it is extremely important to get physicians involved all through the life- circles of the EMR implementation. However sometimes too much involvement, especially close to the Go-live, can be problematic.

During one of the PAG meetings, the CPOE team proudly presented the final general order-set to the group. The CPOE team mentioned that they would like some input from the physicians. One of the Residents provided feedback, which included moving things around, adding/removing new orders, and revamping the VTE set (which took about 2 years to come to a consensus). At the end of the meeting everyone was so exhausted that the CMO motioned to adjourn the meeting 30 minutes earlier.

It is obvious that the above issue is due to the late involvement. Although this institution involved some Attending Physicians as Physician Champions earlier during the design sessions; the residents who primarily use the system were not involved until much later.

During the formation of the Physician Advisory Group (PAG), a first year resident from each of the hospital services should be involved. These Residents should be the voices for the other Residents and also the super users.

This is just one reason to get physicians involved at the beginning of an implementation. 

Dr. Juliet Mbonu has over 4 years experience with Soarian in Patient Management, Clinicals, and Point of Care.