Author: Dr. Sean Kelly, MD
Chief Medical Officer and SVP of Customer Strategy, Healthcare at Imprivata
Technology is evolving faster than hospitals can keep up with. Clinicians are relying on outdated tools built to solve yesterday’s problems – and they’re not cutting it. While the proliferation of electronic health records (EHR) led to an era of digital transformation, it also introduced security friction and slowed clinicians down. A recent McKinsey study found that 20% of a 12-hour nursing shift is spent on activities that could be optimized through technology enablement.
Now one of the hospital’s most significant IT investments, the EHR is an essential tool and optimizing its capabilities is critical for enabling high-quality patient care. As limited IT budgets, evolving cybersecurity threats, and increased patient workloads put pressure on hospitals, EHR systems must be capable of adapting to the efficiency, security, and mobility needs of clinicians.
A New Standard of Care Delivery
A clinician’s time is precious. The ability to access patient records and update information directly at the bedside allows for seamless, personalized, and efficient care. However, most clinicians don’t have this ability. Most only access the EHR on a stationary desktop computer outside of the patient’s room, often a walk away. They must enter their password and multifactor authentication (MFA) to login, complete documentation and any other tasks, and then it could be more than 20 minutes before they return to the patient’s room. And frankly, this disruption can impact patient satisfaction, not to mention contribute to clinician burnout.
Clinicians who stop at nothing to get the job done when caring for patients are viewed as commendable and resilient. While this is true, these same clinicians are often burned out and have adapted to using inadequate tools by leveraging workarounds, like sharing passwords or logging in under another account, presenting significant security risks. In fact, 66% of nurses say they do not have ideal time to spend with patients, according to AMN Healthcare. Inefficient processes when accessing the EHR take away from this precious time and contribute to fatigue.
Patients require a more efficient and personalized level of care, and clinicians need the tools to feel empowered to provide that care. To eliminate the need for workarounds and improve both patient and clinician experiences, organizations need secure and accessible mobile tools that extend the power of the EHR to the bedside.
Streamlining EHR Access on Mobile Devices
The shift to electronic records and the security friction that followed led hospitals to implement streamlined access management and frictionless authentication solutions like single sign-on using proximity cards, low energy Bluetooth, or biometrics. By making EHR logins practically invisible, clinicians experienced more efficient EHR access while improving technology adoption and enhancing security.
As the demand for efficiency and mobility increases, organizations can empower clinicians by extending this same EHR experience to enterprise-owned shared mobile devices. Security friction has deterred clinicians from using mobile devices that aren’t properly enabled or configured, despite healthcare organizations having invested in them. Without a strategy to track, manage, and update devices, they can be rendered useless and remain on a shelf.
By extending the capabilities of the EHR to mobile devices, clinicians can remain at the patient’s bedside throughout a visit with immediate access to patient information, critical mobile EHR applications, and the ability to support electronic prescriptions for controlled substances (EPCS).
Within moments of authenticating, they can access a mobile device that is fully configured according to the clinician's specific access requirements. After using the device, automated technologies remove all user credentials and depersonalize the device, ensuring security and privacy. This streamlined process saves valuable time for the clinician, increases technology adoption, and contributes to high-quality patient care.
Future-Proofing & Mobilizing the EHR
As healthcare organizations strategically invest in EHR expansion, it’s important to view the EHR as a tool to increase clinician satisfaction, improve patient safety, and drive better return on investment. Mobile devices provide uninterrupted access to patient information to ensure continuity of care. This eliminates the need for clinicians to rely solely on stationary workstations and allows them to spend more time with patients, improving the overall care experience.
Mobile workflows also improve patient safety by facilitating real-time communication and collaboration across teams, leading to improved care coordination and patient outcomes. With mobile devices, clinicians can easily communicate with colleagues, share critical information, and receive timely updates, regardless of their physical location. This level of connectivity fosters efficient teamwork, reduces delays in decision-making, and ensures that all members of the care team are well-informed and aligned. This also leads to increased adoption and return on investment.
In today's digital age, patients expect convenient and accessible healthcare services. Providing this experience hinges on clinician mobility and efficiency. Patient safety remains the utmost priority in healthcare, and the use of mobile devices is expected to expand in the future as the EHR remains a top investment for hospitals. As healthcare organizations embrace digital transformation, it is critical to optimize the EHR by ensuring efficient access across all endpoints.
The editorial staff had no role in this post's creation.