Kline takes it a step further and actually tries to get her patients involved with using the computer. For example, she might turn the screen sideways so both she and the patients can look at it. She’ll show them a graph of their blood pressure or cholesterol before she discusses a change in medication with them. In one instance, a patient had a question about whether a certain blood pressure drug would be safe to take during pregnancy.
“I didn’t know the answer,” Kline admits. “So we turned to the computer and looked it up together.” That way, the patient was involved in her own health care decisions, and she didn’t have to wait until the next visit to get an answer.
Fine-Tuning the System
Kline says she uses the Cleveland Clinic’s MyChart system only with patients who tell her they are active computer users and check their e-mail every day. Kline relates that her group of “active computer users” includes patients in their 80s as well as those in their 20s. Senior citizens are some of the biggest fans of EMRs, she adds.
Besides knowing which patients might be comfortable with electronic records, Kline keeps tabs on whether her patients are receiving the information they need from the system. If she notices a patient’s MyChart data are not being viewed, she will print out the relevant pages and send them to the patient via “snail mail.” As a precaution, if she is sending lab results to a patient, Kline will request an automatic reply, which tells her the person received the information. If she doesn’t get a reply, she will personally follow up with a phone call.
Of course, there are certain times when e-mail communication is not appropriate, Kline says, and clinicians have to use their own discretion and common sense. For example, if a patient is diagnosed with a critical or terminal illness, a personal visit or phone call is the right way to go. Also, if there are time-sensitive test results, phone calls work better—an e-mail might get lost in the shuffle.
Overall, Kline is a fan of the EMR. She feels it has made life easier for her patients, and for her. But then, not all hospitals have worked out the bugs the way Cleveland Clinic has over the years.
Kline advises other clinicians to hang in there with it. “If you can be patient and embrace the learning curve,” she says, “this has the potential to add efficiency to your day.”