How templates can speed up your EHR workflow

More than half of the physicians participating in the Medical Economics EHR Best Practices Study are customizing their systems' templates to better meet their practices needs.

According to a recent survey, 65% of the 24 respondents in the 2-year study are editing/revising their vendor-supplied review-of-system templates. Another 52% are customizing the physician exam templates, and about 45% of the respondents made changes to the history of present illness templates. The findings show that most physicians perceive a need to spend time adapting their systems to better meet the needs of the practice and their patients, says George Ellis Jr., MD, FACP of Boardman, Ohio, who is directing the study and serves as member of the Medical Economics Editorial Board.

For some of the participants, customizing templates remained one of the most challenging aspects of working with the software. It's also time-consuming, Ellis says. The result, however, can help you streamline your documentation.

Start simple, and then work into more complex templates, Ellis advises. Set up the quick pick list of diagnostic codes, and even advance further by creating a quick pick list of orders associated with the diagnostic codes. Although fewer physicians participating in the study have accomplished this task, Ellis says that it is one more step that will help streamline the process as you become more proficient with your system.

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