Consultancy: Create Performance Measures Earlier in EHR Planning

Provider organizations implementing electronic health records systems often are slow to create performance measures to determine the return on investment of the clinical systems, according to survey results from consulting firm Beacon Partners.


Provider organizations implementing electronic health records systems often are slow to create performance measures to determine the return on investment of the clinical systems, according to survey results from consulting firm Beacon Partners.

Forty percent of about 300 respondents, mostly from hospitals, said their organization uses performance measures, but only 36 percent of these respondents are satisfied with the extent to which the data is used. That’s a missed opportunity, according to a Beacon report of survey results. “Typically, EHR measures drive clinical quality improvement initiatives, or are included in a balanced scorecard. However, there are also opportunities to view these measures in a manner that evaluates the effectiveness of the EHR as a capital asset of the organization.”

Nearly half of responding organizations implement performance measures during the planning stages of implementation, but one-third implement measures in at least one patient care area following implementation. Fifty-one percent of respondents would prefer developing measures earlier in the EHR planning process.

Physician and nurse satisfaction with the system is a common use of measures, done in 78 percent of responding organizations. Other common measures are used to plan for system enhancements, and determining training and support needs.

More results of the survey are available here.

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