Reference no: EM134025005

Assignment:

Dr. Ann Smith is a physician in rural Appalachia. She is the only health care provider within a 100-mile radius; sees about 25 patients per day and has a heavy work load. She manages a full range of acute and chronic conditions for patients of all ages. All patient records are kept in paper form in a file cabinet. She is considering purchasing an electronic health record, but is concerned about the cost of the system, learning the system herself with a busy practice and training her staff.

Her staff consists of a part-time office manager who handles billing and insurance claims and three nurses, one of whom also serve as the administrative assistant. With the exception of one nurse, her staff is older and was inherited from the previous doctor. Keeping Dr. Smith's concerns in mind, answer the following questions:

• What should be Dr. Smith's first steps toward adopting and implementing an EHR in her practice?
• What are some ways in which she can work his own training into her schedule?
• What are some of the key concerns for her staff, and how might they be addressed?

Adapted from: Knickman, J.R. and Kovner, A.R. (Eds.). (2015). Jonas and Kovner's Health care delivery in the United States. (11th ed., p. 327). New York: Springer Publishing Company.