Raven Support for Paper-based Physicians

In most jurisdictions (eg. Alberta, BC, Ontario, USA, etc) the early-adopters have implemented EMRs, but many physicians are still using paper-based patient medical records and are resisting automation. Convincing these physicians to implement EMR technology raises many challenges for both EMR vendors and government healthcare bodies. Physicians cite many objections based on the experiences of their early-adopter colleagues:

• Poor EMR Usability is typical
• Long learning curves are common and require extensive education for physicians and staff
  
• Workflow changes required by the EMR can be very disruptive to clinic operations
• Clinics implementing an EMR can experience reduced productivity for more than a year
• Implementation complexity is very high
• Clinical and physician direct benefits can be dubious for a long period
  

Raven Intuitive User Interface - On a touch-sensitive, all-in-one computer

Coalese' Raven product has been optimized to take advantage of touch-sensitive screens, and when coupled with an inexpensive all-in-one, multi-touch computer or touch-sensitive tablet (like the new Apple iPad), provides an exceptionally intuitive and friendly way for paper-based physicians to access their electronic patient medical records.

Raven, in conjunction with an accredited EMR, can mitigate the objections noted above and make it easier and more attractive for paper-based physicians to move to an electronic medical records management system, while maximizing the benefits of automation, by following a hybrid implementation process:

1. The clinic implements their selected EMR system
2. A Medical Records Assistant is trained in the use of the EMR system
3. Physicians either dictate, hand-write or use Raven's simple Data Entry ability to create their encounter notes which are then entered into the EMR by the Medical Records Assistant
4. Paper-based physicians are provided with the intuitive Raven Viewer and an all-in-one touch sensitive computer to give them easy access to their patient medical records and thus sidestep the effort, time, trouble and expense of learning a complex EMR system
5. Raven's Physician Appointment View provides the doctors with an easy to use and compact look at their appointment schedule
6. Raven's PDF-based medical record output capability can be used to print patient medical records prior to an appointment, if a physician wants to avoid computer use altogether
7. Physicians can also gain secure access to their patient's medical records on mobile devices such as iPhones and on their home computers.
8. Raven's primary care collaboration tools can enable improved communication between the greater primary care team by providing access to designated portions of medical records to allied healthcare workers such as homecare nurses, ER staff, pharmacists and EMTs.

This hybrid approach of combining Coalese's Raven with a classic, accredited EMR system addresses the typical challenges and objections raised by paper-based physicians, and makes it easier to convince them to take the EMR automation plunge.

Raven provides many features that are attractive to paper-based physicians, such as the Physician Appointment view:

Raven Intuitive User Interface - Physician Appointments View

The physician appointments view in Raven can be made the default view that is shown to a physician when they log in, thus providing an "at a glance" summary of the appointments that a physician has for the day, for the next day and into the future. The appointments shown are based on the EMR's schedule for that particular physician.

The medical record for a scheduled patient is only a single click on the linked healthcare number or name away, making access to the detailed patient record extremely convenient for the physician. Furthermore, the physician can generate a summary medical record, in print-ready PDF format with a single click on the printer icon shown in the above example, thus streamlining the physician's appointment workflow and avoiding the complex and distruptive search processes incumbent with many EMR systems.

Raven's advanced features such as Advanced visualization including mutli-factor graphing & chronological timeline view, patient access to portions of their medical records using the Raven Patient Portal and Secure Messaging provide the physician and clinic staff with easy to use yet powerful capabilities to further improve the healthcare services that they can provide to their patients.

Raven Intuitive User Interface - On an iPad

The Raven Advanced Metrics Management component can deliver enhanced patient welfare benefits by providing the physician with comprehensive validated patient list and chronic disease panel management tools. Physicians can more easily take advantage of P4P incentives (for example, participation in the Alberta Health & Welfare PDI program) using the Coalese Metrics reporting tools.

The combination of the Coalese Raven capabilities with an accredited EMR system can provide the extra impetus required to convince sceptical paper-based physicians to finally make the plunge and automate their clinical medical records, thus increasing market share for EMR vendors and addresssing the goals of government healthcare bodies. For more detailed information on how the Coalese Raven product can facilitate EMR adoption by paper-based physicians, please contact your Coalese sales representative.

---

All text and images Copyright © 2008-2010 Coalese Corporation. All rights reserved.
Web design by Gryffyn Graffyx .