With federal mandates requiring electronic health record systems and other IT adoption across the health care industry, the majority of health care organizations are either in the process of implementing new software or preparing to do so. Despite uncertainty regarding health care IT legislation in the coming months, a digital solution provides increased efficiency and cost savings that make this switch worth the effort.

When implementing new software at a health care organization, it’s important that the integration into your current IT system and clinical workflows is quick and seamless. This avoids any costly downtime and keeps firms competitive. With up to 30 percent of new integrated hospital information system software adoption budgets being allocated for training and implementation, any reduction in the time it takes to complete these tasks results in substantial savings. Any delays in the health care IT training process will lead to additional costs and downtime.

Improving the Training Phase of IT Implementation

Due to the high number of variables and challenges involved during implementation, training does take up a considerable amount of time. One way to expedite this process is to bolster the staff training methods. HealthIT.gov outlined three strategies designed to expedite and streamline EHR training. These include:

• Super-user training – This method involves delegating a core group of staff members to vigorously train with the software vendor to develop a deep understanding of the EHR system and how it will be used within the organization. This group of super users can then train the rest of the staff.
• Role-based training – This involves tailoring training sessions specifically to the role and responsibilities of individual staff members, whether clinical providers, office staff, IT support specialists or something else.
• Process-based training – This focuses staff training on the processes and workflows most impacted by the software integration, such as providing clinical summaries or scheduling patient appointments.

Utilizing the Right PACS Solution

Part of ramping up your digital healthcare facility includes integrating workflows into your EHR system. The right picture archive and communications system solution speeds up health care IT implementation for hospitals, imaging centers, orthopedics, specialists, reading groups and more.

From successful unattended installations to rapid turnaround time, the best providers of PACS solutions provide health care organizations with a streamlined and swift implementation process. This shortens the timeframe in which the organization realizes the numerous benefits the system has to offer. Transparent management of storage expansion means health care organizations can potentially avoid any additional costs for infrastructure upgrades, although some customers may need to upgrade to current HIPAA-supported equipment.

These features cut overall downtime during the implementation and training of staff members, ensuring organizations can get up and running quickly. Even when employee turnover occurs, companies that provide the best PACS solution will offer on-going training options to keep new hires up to speed. Further, constant customer engagement lets IT software companies keep their PACS solutions configured to overcome the common problems faced by health care organizations.

The right PACS solution speeds up training and implementation for health care IT software, which reduces the costs associated with downtime and ensures all staff members are efficient and accurate with their usage of the system.

Click here for more information on Aspyra’s picture archive and communications systems.