Considering Choices in Electronic Health Records

This piece previously appeared as a Practice Builders column and is adapted from the article created in partnership with the American Academy of Podiatric Practice Management. The original, entire article can be found here. 

In early 2021, the second of two large podiatry-specific electronic health record (EHR) systems sold to a large multispecialty company. I was satisfied with my previous EHR, but when the company was among those sold last year, I took the opportunity to look for new options that could provide additional efficiency and streamlining to my practice.In addition, I have observed a significant shift in how many podiatric physicians document their clinical experiences. As we move into the third decade of the twenty-first century, in my experience, the increasing robustness of these systems provide opportunities for growth, and these newer technologies could make practices more efficient and produce better patient outcomes. This is largely due to greater communication with and access to care information by the patients!

I admit that I am old enough to remember paper charting (gasp!). My hand used to hurt a LOT after working with some of my attendings and seeing upwards of 40 patients each day. By the time I finished my residency training in 2008, it was quite the mixed bag when looking at who used a computer system versus who still charted on paper, and it was still a year or two more before I observed those "meaningful use" incentives dominating our language and documentation patterns. I knew, however, that I wanted to be on the cutting edge of this process and early on committed to having an electronic health record for my patients. 

Fast forward 13 years; I was one of many clients who had an important decision to make in early 2021.  After a year of COVID-19 chaos, the last thing I wanted to do was vet out a new EHR! I know many colleagues have felt similar apprehension, and I hope that the lessons and questions discussed in this article (click here) will help YOU if (and when) you make the leap to a new documentation system.

Dr. Lockwood is a Fellow of the American College of Podiatric Medicine and the American Society of Podiatric Surgeons. She is a Diplomate and Vice President of the American Board of Podiatric Medicine. She practices in Bloomington, IL.

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