Has your support team become the “Helpless” Desk?
Let’s continue with the theme we discussed last month around IT Help and Service Desk support. No matter how hard your IT Help Desk team members try to service your internal clients and external patients, you’ve probably heard the assessment that your team resembles more of a “helpless” desk, than a positive driver of EMR return on investment as well as end user service and satisfaction.
Let’s take a step back and look at it from the end user’s perspective. Your healthcare network has invested millions of dollars and tens of thousands of hours implementing a new EMR system. Your implementation team carefully migrated your legacy systems to the new platform, tested the environment for weeks to ensure functionality, and trained all who would have to interact with the new system.
But in the days since launch, new challenges are being presented to your support team. Many of which they are ill-equipped to quickly and efficiently resolve. Let’s examine some real-life examples:
Doctor: “I can’t find my Navigator. Where’s my Sign and Helds? And where are the History and Physical results?
Help Desk: “I’m sorry to hear that. I am not well versed in the new system, so I am creating a ticket to elevate your questions to someone who can help.”
So, your team logs a ticket, and the clinician is uncertain as to how or when her issue will be resolved. Meanwhile, your clinical team members are stuck, and worse yet, your patient care may suffer or experience unnecessary delays. Will you try to answer her question today? Will it be when she is with a patient and unable to take your call? Or perhaps tomorrow, when she is not on duty?
Is your team’s skill set to blame, or did the organization doom them to failure? Either way, you have unhappy end users, which affects adoption, ROI and sentiment about the new EMR.
Let’s contrast this to some of the best healthcare organizations and how they approach EMR support. Navigating the complexities of your EMR is a much different ballgame, with greater complexity and specialized training required. Partner with an external organization who can be an extension—rather than a replacement—of your IT team.
Doctor: “I’m having trouble with my Navigator and I can’t locate my Meds. I’m trying to update my H&P results.”
Expert EMR Application Support: “I’m sorry to hear you’re having trouble. What department should you be logged into? Now that you’re logged in correctly, let’s go to the Activity tab, and pull down your Meds list. You can also find your Sign and Helds here. Now let’s head to the Chart Review to update your patient status prior to surgery.”
Just imagine the difference knowledgeable agents can make, providing direct and immediate support to your medical teams when they need it, on a consistent basis.
HCTec has a large Managed Services business unit that acts as an extension of hospitals’ IT departments, providing 24-hour Tier I and II support delivered by certified and highly skilled U.S.-based staff in our remote application support centers. Our team efficiently handles inquiries from clinical and technical staff as well as supporting patient portal inquiries. Our clients benefit not only from great service from HDI-certified agents, but we also provide trend analysis to identify gaps and opportunities before they reach a critical stage.
If this sounds like an opportunity to you, let’s connect to discuss, or you can check out HCTec’s recent award-winning whitepaper.
