A decade or two after the majority of health systems took the EHR plunge, it’s still far from perfect, and the complaints still seem to pile up. But as those who have spent time in both the pre- and post-electronic worlds – and have the benefit of that experience – can attest, the benefits outweigh the challenges.

Remembering that, according to Jason Buchanan, MD, clinical informatics officer at Baylor College of Medicine, is critical. “There were many times when you’d be looking for a patient’s chart and couldn’t locate it. It was like flying blind.”

For leaders, the key is to ensure systems are usable, which means providing continuous education and support. During a recent interview, Buchanan talked about his approach to optimization, the power of listening, how medical school has evolved in recent years, and how he first got “hooked” on informatics.

LISTEN HERE USING THE PLAYER BELOW OR SUBSCRIBE THROUGH YOUR FAVORITE PODCASTING SERVICE. 

Key Takeaways

* Sending out surveys to providers and patients is a great way to gain feedback — as long as leaders clearly state “what they’re being used for and what’s the tentative plan.”

* By spending a half-day or even a few hours with providers, leaders can get “a bird’s eye view of a day in the life of a doctor or nurse, which offers a lot of insight into the organization as a whole.”

* One way in which medical schools are evolving? By providing more emphasis on the business side of medicine. “You have to have a feasible and sustainable framework” to successfully care for patients.

* Barriers between departments will always exist; leaders need to offer cross-training and ensure people have the freedom to say, ‘I don’t understand what you just said. Can you say it in a different way?”

Q&A with Jason Buchanan, Part 2 [Click here to view Part 1]

Gamble:  You mentioned listening as an important part of leadership. Can you give some thoughts on the best ways to do that?

Buchanan:  I think of listening in a few different ways. One is the traditional way where you send out surveys to your providers and patients. That’s the quickest and easiest way to do it. What’s important is to ask the right questions. You want them to be broad, but not overly broad, because you want to get actionable information from those surveys.

A lot of times when people see a survey in the inbox, they think, ‘oh great, another one.’ And so, you have to make sure that when you do those surveys, you clearly state what they’re being used for; what’s the tentative plan for these surveys.

For example, you might say, ‘we’re doing this survey to process the levels of burnout in the organization,’ and share a little bit about your plan to address it. By doing that, you’ll have increased compliance. That’s the first bucket of listening: sending out traditional surveys and collecting data.

What’s also important, especially among upper administration, is getting out on the floor with providers and patients. We know about the typical walkarounds where you have a dyad or triad that goes around to see what’s happening and chat with providers or patients.

Rounding to gain “insight into the organization”

But I think that in some of the really innovative places, folks in upper administration will spend a half-day or a quarter of day with providers, or with patients in the waiting room, so they can see what’s happening. They get a bird’s eye view of a day in the life of a doctor o...