What is one way you could become involved in designing, selecting, evaluating, or implementing an information system in your workplace?
In my current position, I have been involved over the past three years with the implementation and continuous evaluation of a new electronic charting system designed to facilitate standardized communication of data points related to the appropriate matching of organ donors and recipients. As all of those who have been on the front end of the initiation of such a project can attest, learning a new information system "language" can be an arduous and frustrating process. It has made me truly appreciate the critical importance of trained nurse informaticists being involved in the development of EHRs as they become the primary form of documentation. This interface between clinician and technology is essential for a coherent and usable system to emerge.
As I change career paths and enter a primary care setting, I am grateful for these experiences which have hopefully helped to prepare me for the revolution of EHRs that must happen in order for a more efficient, patient-centered medical home to emerge. I am very interested in the potential of "meaningful use" of EHRs to streamline interdisciplinary communication and transform the current fragmented, error-prone, and inefficient existing system for medical record keeping. I hope to be a leader in refining new generations of these systems through my input as a clinician as they become more universal and patient-centered. The ability for different health care providers and disciplines to speak the same language is a basic right for our patients.
It seems you have been in the heart of systems design and implementation, that's valuable experience. But your input and feedback will not stop as you change your focus to primary care. In fact it will be even more important as you use these systems in your practice :)
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