HENRY NNOROM.

Electronic Health Records (2021SU)

Summer 2021

Article Critique: McReavy DJ, Toth L, Tremonti C, Yoder C. The CFO's role in

implementing EHR systems.

Healthcare Organizations generally adopt one of two methods when it comes to patient

registration. With a centralized record center, the healthcare organization adopted to keep all the

physical documents in one central location usually managed by a selected few. While a

decentralized record center the health care organization elects to keep all the physical documents

where everyone across the entire office can have access, usually no designated staff or group has

the role of accountability since it falls on everyone to know it. No matter the method adopted the

goal of any modern institution is to adopt an E.H.R. Electronic health care record-keeping is the

wave of the future, Electronic Health Records could be defined as an electronic version of

patients' healthcare records, this is much different from the way it used to be done in the past

with paper format of health care records. An electronic health record is a storehouse that collects,

creates, and stores the health record electronically of all activities of a patient in a health care

institution. Personalization, customization, or even Creative control. No matter what word is

used to describe it, it is still an ability to change and move the EHR to your taste. These days,
even fast-food joints allow the user to customize the Menu. so, it only makes sense to give the

user of the EHR some form of creative control. While this sounds easy, the process is a little bit

more complicated. Considering that all healthcare facilities are of different size and needs the

process of customization faces some more disadvantages in the sense that the cost to implement

a custom EHR can be exceedingly high, hence not all healthcare facilities can afford it, it also

takes a huge amount of time for the staff to adapt to the new system training and convincing

workers to use a new system could potentially cause some form of resistance in the workplace.

While in large the potential benefit may out way the disadvantage, but any wise leader must also

factor in disadvantages before they decide. The article The CFO's role in implementing EHR

systems. “Tampa Bay-based BayCare Health System recommends certain actions CFOs can take

to guide implementation of an EHR system. They recommend that the CFO or person in charge

become actively involved in the EHR implementation strategy and project management. Help the

organization understand that EHR systems require not just a change in the organization's core

clinical system, but also its core revenue system. Monitor revenue by the department in the

weeks and months after go-live and move quickly to evaluate unanticipated changes in revenue.”

On the downside, to these recommendations, the CFO is not the only executive that needs to be

kept in the loop, while the role of accounting and financial transactions is of key importance, but

any organizational Change affects the most important asset in an organization which is the

employees. Without proper implementations and study of current staff and their educational

capacities, it remains a daunting task to implement a new E.H.R. The report also failed to

consider the effect of a Swot analysis in the recommendations. A SWOT analysis (strengths,

weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis in electronic health record implementation. This

is an in-depth breakdown, a study conducted with the participation of the workforce to determine
the effectiveness of an Electronic Health Record (EHR) implementation. As the EHR is a core

part of a hospital information system, it is important to ensure that it offers the best

functionalities and that users are satisfied. This analysis it is intended to gather information about

the system, to improve the EHR implemented in the organization. The Study also mentions

“Although the prospect of managing financial risk associated with switching from legacy

revenue management systems to a system that incorporates EHR modules may be daunting, it is

imperative for CFOs to actively engage in the process from the start. Too often, CFOs remain on

the periphery of EHR projects for too long, delaying active involvement until advanced phases

when charge capture and other revenue issues inevitably begin to surface. As the experience of

BayCare Health System of Tampa Bay demonstrates, the potential for success is greatest when

charge capture and billing issues can be anticipated and addressed from the outset of EHR

planning and implementation.” An issue like problems with the billing, and customization of the

E.H.R is exactly what a SWOT analysis is supposed to capture. In the end, SWOT analysis

reveals more than the weakness of not involving the CFO, who is only one part of the accounting

or records department. Overall, this article failed to consider other important organizational

change implementation tools such as Clearly define the change and align it to business

goals, determine impacts and those affected, and Implement a support structure post-E.H.R

implementation. It also failed to account for other members of the Organization that also

deserves to be carried along in the implementation phase of the E.H.R.

Reference:
 1. McReavy, D. J., Toth, L., Tremonti, C., & Yoder, C. (2009). The cfo's role in implementing
ehr systems. Healthcare Financial Management : Journal of the Healthcare Financial
Management Association, 63(6), 72–6.
https://se.on.worldcat.org/oclc/401804779.

2. Boothe, L., & Boothe, L. (2017, August 22). Centralized vs. Decentralized Patient
Appointment Scheduling. Vital Interaction. https://www.vitalinteraction.com/centralized-vs-
decentralized-patient-appointment-scheduling/.

Due to previous engagement/Investigations on-going I am recalling Terry Cockerham.

Replacing him with an AFGE member LTSO Porter Gerald. Please be sure to give him
official time and enough time to prepare for the observation which includes full rest.
Maybe flex his schedule so he can observe the right votes. He works AM.