An electronic medical record (EMR) implementation isn't just about replacing paper charts with digital technology. EMRs also provide a perfect opportunity to review and improve your workflows. The result can be increased efficiencies—which means decreased costs.

Your medical practice has probably been doing things the same way for a long time. Maybe you think you do things well, and most likely you actually do. Most practices, however, have not recently reviewed and optimized processes to the extent possible. Few have standardized procedures in writing, for example.

Implementing an EMR won't automatically make these improvements. In fact, most people think EMRs solve problems, but they actually amplify problems that already exist in a practice.

Because of this, adopting an EMR presents a good opportunity for you to make your practice more efficient by reviewing processes and optimizing your own workflows. In fact, you may find that with little effort you are able to identify new efficiencies that could save time and money.

Be patient, however. The adoption of technology is an iterative process. In other words, while EMRs are full of functions that will bring efficiency to your practice if implemented correctly, this won't happen overnight. Give it some time. Typically, health care groups are in the learning and adoption phase of their transition for several months. You should see results after that.

A number of outside influences tend to affect attitudes around electronic medical record (EMR) implementation and training. We've come to expect our technology to be plug-and-play, thanks to the era of Windows and the Apple computer. But EMRs may be more complicated.

EMRs are more complicated than other technologies because they exist in a complicated environment—one that is dominated by regulation, documentation, and coding. The medical industry just isn't simple by nature.

With that said, not all EMRs are created equal; some are easier to use than others. As a result, as the EMR market evolves, users are beginning to prefer and focus on certain technologies, driving many EMR products off the market and EMR companies out of business. As EMR companies discontinue products and the support for those products, they are leaving many doctors who thought they were using reliable, long-lasting EMR solutions stranded.

gloStream is the exception in an industry of complicated products, mainly because it is based on the popular Microsoft platform. Because Microsoft Word is the de facto template editor standard, and most people already know how to use it, training time is condensed. Moroever, our gloDNA and gloLive processes ensure that doctors using our EMR are up to their full patient load in a matter of days or weeks — not months.

If your EMR can't promise such simplicity, consider switching. gloStream offers attractive discounts to practices that convert from other EMR software to gloEMR.