The majority of health care organizations have a formalized electronic health record governance policy in place that is monitored by a formal advisory panel, according to a report by HIMSS Analytics, the research arm of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, Clinical Innovation & Technology reports (Walsh, Clinical Innovation & Technology, 4/2).
Report Details
For the report, researchers surveyed 238 workers at health care organizations (Bowman, FierceEMR, 4/2).
The survey asked respondents about:
- Their organization’s current EHR governance policy;
- The effectiveness and efficiency of current EHR systems;
- The primary drivers of EHR adoption; and
- The successes and challenges with EHR vendors (Clinical Innovation & Technology, 4/2).
Report Findings
The study found that:
- 60% of respondents reported that their organization has an official EHR governance policy in place;
- 21% of respondents said their organization has no such policy; and
- 19% of respondents were unsure (FierceEMR, 4/2).
Of those who reported having an official EHR governance policy in place, 63% said their governance structure involved a multidisciplinary advisory board to monitor and approve changes to the policy (Clinical Innovation & Technology, 4/2).
The respondents noted that developing strategies for physician adoption and engagement is a significant challenge (Bresnick, EHR Intelligence, 4/3).
Reaction
HIMSS Analytics Research Director Brendan FitzGerald said the researchers were “stunned” at the lack of physician engagement in EHR governance. He added, “How organizations make decisions around enhancements to EHRs, including implementation, can dramatically impact their ability to meet regulatory measures and create workflow efficiencies” (FierceEMR, 4/2).
