Technology is integral to successful implementation in many projects

Technology is integral to successful implementation in many projects, through either support or integration or both. Name at least one technology that could improve the implementation process and the outcomes of your EBP project. Do you plan to use this technology? If not, what are the barriers that prevent its use?

Electronic medical records is a technology that would improve the implementation process and outcomes of my EBP project is. We still use a paper chart system. Having an electronic medical record would decrease so much time that the Preadmission nurses spend chasing down previous EKG’s, CXR’s, and lab studies that can be used if they are within the specified period. Instead the nurses must be calling doctor’s offices to get these documents faxed, and at times must call multiples times before office personnel sends them because they forget to send it. My facility is a small hospital and it is physician invested, along with other stakeholders. Because it is a smaller facility it cost less to take a penalty for not having an E-MAR than to spend the money to set up the system. We are currently in the process of trying to merge with a big hospital organization and we hope that once that happens, we will be able to implement an electronic medical health record and find the root causes of the 30-day patient readmissions and hopefully find a lasting solution.