Over the past few months, as ARRA HITECH Act has begun to stretch the imagination of more people, the desire to implement increasing numbers of interoperable systems or information exchanges has increased dramatically. That’s great, but let’s not forget that adoption by the physician/clinician remains paramount. Oh, and by the way, the challenge in the US is complicated by extending the implementation out to the primary care doctors 80% of which have never had a EMR. So some quick thoughts on paying attention to the issue of adoption:

1. The solution needs to be ‘meaningful’ to day-to-day activites (not just in terms of of what the government wants to see before they pay out the incentives).
2. An empty EHR/EMR is not really going to be helpful so rapid loading of current patient data will be essential to delivering value.
3. If there is some automation in place, you probably ought figure out how to use that in the overall solution because rip and replace is a flawed strategy (ask some of the participants in England’s national program).
4. Dropping a solution into a practice is only the beginning. Support service needs to be included.
5. Clinical decision support will improve effectiveness of the practice and will become an essential requirement for improving experience for provider and patient.
6. Workflow support will improve efficiency for the practice.

Together, the implementation of these capabilities will help to streamline the challenges of adoption.
NOTE: At HIMSS, there was a common fear that the new stimulus money will bring in new IT service providers and consultants who don’t really understand these issues. If you are in the market for consulting assistance on these fronts, buyer beware.