By Kelly McGowan

Overhauling your electronic health record (EHR) system can transform your organization. The challenge is getting staff ready to adopt the new software, and it’s tempting to schedule unrelated roles in the same sessions. Instead of helping to learn tools each position will need daily, training like this delivers generic content for all.

Maximize your investment, improve productivity, and ensure patient safety with a fresh training approach. Adapt to your new system with lessons that suit user needs.
Make training relevant and immediate
Lectures won’t be very helpful for visual learners, just like learning about your EHR’s billing processes won’t matter to lab techs. Enhance training effectiveness by connecting it to the participants in each session.

Focus on role-specific competencies over generic training
Mold training programs to each unique user group to speak to how each will use the EHR. This means not only tailoring classes but also separating roles, such as nurses, physicians, and pharmacy technicians, into separate sessions to deliver content that aligns with their workflows.

For example, nurse training may emphasize documenting on flowsheets, while physician training may focus on dictation and problem-oriented notes.

Choose interactive over didactic methods
Let your teams engage from the start. Hands-on, interactive instruction immerses trainees in EHR software immediately, not only piquing their interest but also alleviating anxiety about the change and helping them absorb the information.

Relying on classroom training with presentations and note-taking isn’t ideal for teaching clinicians about a system that will be a cornerstone of their daily activities. It risks participants becoming distracted by everything from external thoughts to personal electronics and missing important information. This could potentially put patients at risk once the clinicians begin using the system.

Respect staff time when scheduling
The vast majority of clinicians still spend time outside of hours to enter and analyze EHR data to prioritize patient care. Learning a brand-new system will require additional time. Ease this burden by providing resources, consistency, and accurate information.

Provide dedicated training time
Clinicians routinely work 12 or more hours per day, and adding training hours before or after their shifts only increases fatigue and risks patient care. Schedule training time on a dedicated day off so staff members are fresh and can give EHR training sessions their undivided attention.

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