Lack of usability is often at the root of slow electronic medical record (EMR) adoption—but usability refers to more than user satisfaction. It's not about the screens and the number of clicks used to navigate them; it's about the functionality of the system. Below are five ways to ensure your EMR won't cause headaches.

Ease. Your EMR cannot be burdensome. To ensure it isn't, you may want to look at how physicians interact with nurses (both in the office and on the phone) when using the demo EMR.

Supportiveness. Your EMR should support your office workflows. To ensure it does, you may want to present EMR vendors you're considering with three clinical scenarios: one that's common, one that's challenging, and one that involves many staff interactions.

Efficiency. A good EMR will ultimately save you time – and this can be accomplished in many ways, big and small. For example, keeping an electronic chart open on the desktop can help workflows, because if a provider is often in one patient’s chart when a phone call interrupts his work, he may want to open another chart but keep the first one open. To ensure efficiency, you'll want to watch providers using an EMR in real-life scenarios.

Flexibility. A good EMR will adapt to your changing needs. Ensure that it can evolve as providers become comfortable with improvements in workflow and operational efficiencies as new technologies are developed.

Effectiveness. Finally, your EMR has to work. In other words, does it help you achieve current results, which are based on volume of patients and procedures? Will it help you achieve future results, which many health care analysts believe will be value-driven, and for which clinical data is used to measure quality?

Related articles: Five Keys to EMR Usability

gloEMR—gloStream's electronic medical record (EMR)—isn't just the only EMR that embeds Microsoft Office, thereby creating the industry's most user-friendly and reliable EMR. It also comes backed with two solid guarantees that will ensure a fast path to meaningful use.

First, gloStream guarantees that you'll qualify as a meaningful user and acquire stimulus funding if you go through gloDNA, which is the exclusive process through which gloStream learns about your practice's needs and customizes gloEMR to meet them.

Second, gloStream guarantees you'll be back to full patient load within 15 days of implementation completion. That's quite a contrast to most EMR companies, which require six to nine months to get practices back to normal after EMR implementation.

How solid are gloStream's guarantees? If you don't quality as a meaningful user or you aren't back to full patient load within 15 days of implementation, gloStream will provide a full refund of all gloStream software and services.

That's important, because EMR technology is expensive, and knowing whether it will work is the number one concern among health care practitioners. Now you can rest assured knowing we've addressed that concern.

Many health care practitioners are still reluctant to implement electronic medical records (EMRs) despite increasing evidence of their benefits to practices and patients as well as significant financial incentives from the federal government—but the following five myths should not be among your reasons for reluctance.

EMRs are primarily for hospitals. EMRs are used more in large medical facilities, but they're quickly gaining traction among small health care practices as well.

It's hard to learn to operate an EMR. While there is a learning curve during EMR adoption as with any new technology, EMRs are increasingly easy to use, and many adopters are back to normal operations within as little as three weeks. Moreover, once implemented, EMRs can actually make work easier and significantly improve workflows with tools such as dictation software and an integrated dashboard to keep important information at your fingertips.

EMRs destroy the interaction between doctors and patients. According to a 2010 Government Accountability Office report, EMRs actually help doctors gain more information about a patient and thus improve communication.

EMRs present a security risk. Federal regulations give EMRs significant protection: Health care practitioners need login credentials to access charts, and the EMR's system tracks access. Plus, data is backed up so it's protected from disasters such as floods and fires, which would destroy paper charts,

EMRs are expensive. New EMR technology is emerging that is both effective and affordable, making it easier for small practices to join the EMR revolution.

Now there's one more reason to implement an electronic medical record (EMR): Patients are demanding it. The overwhelming majority of Americans believe health care practitioners who use an EMR to store records offer better care than those who use paper, according to a new survey.

The survey of 1,004 adults, conducted by GfK Roper, found that 78 percent of patients whose doctors use an EMR believe the EMR helps deliver better care—and 38 percent of patients whose doctors don't use an EMR would like them to do so.

On patients' wish lists when it comes to EMRs are emailed appointment reminders and online medical records. In fact, patients worry more about access to their medical records than they do about security, according to another survey by GfK Roper, this one of 1,000 adults. And another survey by Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center found that patients are willing to give up some privacy for full access to online medical records.

The surveys highlight the importance of "participatory medicine," which promotes transparency between health care practitioners and patients, and which is being driven by increased technology, which eliminates the administrative burden of copying and faxing medical records.

Unfortunately, only 49 percent of patients reported that their health care practitioner used an EMR during their last office visit, a number that is unchanged from a similar survey conducted February 2010.

It may be the number one concern among health care practitioners who are reluctant to implement electronic medical records (EMRs): The technology is expensive. And while that may have been true in the past, many EMRs are available for a fraction of the expected cost.

How inexpensive is it? As just one example, gloSuite, gloStream's integrated EMR and practice management (PM) solution, is available starting at just $585 per month. That's around $7,000 per year to enjoy the benefits of a fully integrated EMR (such as gloEMR's intuitive dashboard, with single-click access to all patient information and integrated voice recognition technology) and PM system (which simplifies scheduling, billing, and report creation).

Moreover, gloEMR is the only EMR that embeds Microsoft Office, thereby creating the industry's most user-friendly and reliable EMR. It's user friendly because it's built on top of Microsoft technology, which gives it the familiar Microsoft look and feel. It's reliable because data is always stored in Microsoft-based formats, so it can be transferred to other applications, if needed.

Best of all, the system comes backed with a number of guarantees. First, we guarantee that you'll qualify as a meaningful user and acquire stimulus funding if you go through our exclusive gloDNA process, which is the process through which we learn about your practice's needs and customize gloEMR to meet them. And in contrast to most EMRs, which can require six to nine months to get practices back to normal after implementation, we promise you'll be back to full patient load within 15 days of implementation. If you don't quality as a meaningful user or you aren't back to full patient load within 15 days of implementation, we'll provide a full refund of all gloStream software and services.