Beyond workflow: a primer on thoughtflow, Part 1.

The concept of workflow is common speak by now when considering practice management and electronic health records software. There's not a company out there that would admit to ignoring workflow, the seamless passage of data from the front desk to the back office as the staff and doctor team work together. We all know too, truth be told, that things fall through the cracks, costing the practice money every time. Eliminating silo thinking and practice is a challenge that none of us has yet mastered, even though some close the gaps more successfully than others. Adoption of EHRs has introduced a whole new set of desired efficiencies: instrument linking; the integration of imaging and drawing functions; and a host of new online possibilities, to mention a few.

One of the most interesting dynamics we have encountered in our work with eye care providers, especially as we have sought to surpass traditional EMR capabilities (e.g. recording results), is that doctors think very differently during a patient encounter than when they are discussing patient care, say with colleagues in a continuing education or focus group setting. In other words, there's an important gap between how doctors think they think and how they actually do think and make decisions in the patient care setting.

In the coming weeks, we will be delving into some important ideas and concepts originated by Dr. Sam Bierstock, a nationally recognized authority on healthcare clinical information systems in both the ambulatory and hospital environments, specializing in physician adoption of clinical technologies. According to Dr. Bierstock, “Thoughtflow is used to distinguish between how clinicians work versus how clinicians think and then work."

Imagine the importance of thoughtflow as we move to EHRs with embedded clinical decision support.

More soon. Stay tuned!

Alistair Jackson, M.Ed.