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staff discovered the full capabilities of their EMR. Now, she says that
while "the change to electronic charting was painful, it was totally
worth it for us. We would never go back to paper."
She describes her system as "extremely user-friendly, in that it is
configured like a paper chart with tabs." The EMR is set up on tablets
that can be deployed anywhere in the center. Among the many pleasant surprises, she most likes the "charting by exception" feature.
Instead of typing out all of the narrative charting for every case, a
click of the mouse populates the chart with the norms and staff add
the items that are outside the norm. Similarly, she likes the fact that
certain information will populate throughout the chart after being
entered only once.
There's more. All physician standing orders and discharge instructions
are at the nurses' fingertips. They have immediate access to old forms
and records, and the ability to cut and paste information from the old
record to the new. They can use a webcam to identify patients. They can
scan documents into the record in any location. They can generate customized reports for implants or antibiotic timing for infection control
purposes and reporting. "A huge plus for us — rather surprisingly so —
is the great customer service we get from the company," she says.
Yes, you can customize your EMR
Annette Saylor, RN, CNOR, CRNFA, the director of surgical services at
the Community Hospital in Grand Junction, Colo., loves that she customized her software to suit her needs, even though the software came
pre-built. Before she went live with her EMR, she spent considerable
time building documentation templates (known as wizards) to match
her workflow. In the initial software design, the wizard for prepping
came before the wizard for positioning. One of Ms. Saylor's nurses
pointed out that they position patients before they prep them, so Ms.
