While this site is named Hospital EMR and EHR, you may have noticed that we’ve been covering more and more non-EHR related technologies. I’m certain that this trend will continue as EHR software becomes mature and most hospitals have implemented an EHR. Although, I’m sure we’ll still cover some EHR switching and related topics as well.
While it’s safe to say that many of these non-EHR technologies still have some tie to the EHR, there are some that can really benefit a hospital and may have nothing to do with the EHR. Think about your HR system for example. Almost nothing to do with your EHR (unless you want to talk about EHR user provisioning). However, a well implemented HR system can dramatically improve a hospital’s human resource function.
This idea is actually a theme for my coverage of the upcoming HIMSS 2015 annual conference in Chicago. In the past I’ve always done a bunch of meetings with EHR vendors and sprinkled in a few other non-EHR meetings. This year I’m pretty sure I’ll be doing a bunch of non-EHR meetings with a few EHR meetings sprinkled in. I’m looking for the answer to: What’s Next?
I think this is on trend with what most hospital IT leadership are thinking. EHR’s are mostly installed and they have a handle on meaningful use along with a group of resources that understand the challenge deeply. Now I think they’re starting to look at what’s next.
When I think about what’s next after an EHR is implemented, I think about it in two ways:
- How Can I Get the Most Out of My EHR?
- What Other Non-EHR Technologies Could Benefit My Organization?
I’d love to get your thoughts on both of these questions. Hopefully my posts in 2015 we’ll help to answer these questions. It’s certainly what I’ll be looking for at HIMSS 2015 and of course I’ll share what I find.
