REC: EHR Implementation Is A 'Psychological Roller Coaster'

Electronic health record adoption is a "psychological roller coaster" for small physician practices, according to a report by the Washington Idaho Regional Extension Center (WIREC). The process involves unrealistic expectations that reach a peak right before implementation, a plunge into a "trough of disillusionment" and then a recovery phase involving a lot of hard work, according to WIREC officials.

The report, made public by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT late last week, outlines WIREC's experiences and challenges in helping its physicians adopt EHRs. WIREC delivers health IT consulting services to over 3,300 primary care providers in more than 630 locations. The average size of each practice is four providers.   

WIREC noted that some practices make errors that impede their implementation of EHRs and can mean the difference between EHR success and failure. The most common errors contributing to practice disruption include leadership issues, workflow issues, training issues, provider issues and data and user interface issues, according to the report.