Small & Medium Sized Practices: AHRQ Seeks Information on Tools for Redesigning Health IT Workflow by August 24, 2009
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) says “Information is needed from small- and medium-sized physician practices/clinics that have implemented or are considering implementing health IT about how they study or redesign their workflow, including information on the use of tools, methods or data reports for studying workflow.”
AHRQ Web site notice.
Read the full notice published in the Federal Register. pdf Version
For additional information on the project, visit the project Web site: CQPI: Center for Quality & Productivity Improvement at University of Wisconsin-Madison. Comments should be submitted on or before August 24, 2009. Electronic responses are preferred and should be addressed to WorkflowRFI@ahrq.hhs.gov.
EXCERPT FROM FEDERAL REGISTER:
“SUMMARY: This notice announces the intention of the Agency for
Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to request information from (1) small- and medium-sized practices about how they study or redesign their workflow, including information on the use of tools and methods for studying workflow, and (2) others (e.g., experts, vendors, professional associations) that have developed, implemented and used tools and methods for studying workflow in the context of health IT implementation and use. Workflow is defined as the way work is performed and patient-related information is communicated within small-and medium-sized practices and between those practices and external 0rganizations such as community pharmacies and local hospitals. It is our understanding that there is currently no standard description of workflows for care processes that can be used to guide decisions of where and how to incorporate health information technology.”
“This Request for Information is part of a three-pronged effort to scan the environment, the literature and knowledgeable and interested parties to produce a useful list of resources that may assist small- and medium-sized medical practices and clinics to consider the utility and potential effectiveness of incorporating health IT into the way they practice and communicate patient information. The responses to this request for information will be considered for reference and possible incorporation into an electronic toolkit to be made available on the Internet to assist small- and medium-sized practices in analyzing or redesigning workflow either before or after implementation of one or more health IT applications. All responses to this request for information are voluntary.”
BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making
How to successfully select and implement
electronic health records (EHR) in small ambulatory practices
By Nancy M. Lorenzi, Angelina Kouroubali, Don E. Detmer and Meryl Bloomrosen
Published in February 2009 by BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making, paper focuses “on small ambulatory practices” and “outlines the benefits and barriers to EHR use in this setting, and provides a ‘field guide’ for these practices to facilitate successfull EHR implementation.” This paper was produced as part of the AHRQ National Resouce Center on Health Information Technology (NRC). Valuable references included.
Link to html version: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6947/9/15
Link to pdf version.
