A new study indicates that physicians need at least 3-5 days of initial training on their EHR if they are to be able to use it adequately.  The study also noted that half of the respondents got three or fewer days of training.

Regular readers know this is a constant point we make in this space, even as we acknowledge we have a dog in the hunt since we are EHR implementers.  However, this is highly complex software, not an app downloaded to a smart phone while standing in line at the grocery store.  The full range of a physician's work domain, something that takes years to teach, is reduced to an EHR program.  Assuming someone, even someone smart enough to get into and out of medical school, can master that without significant training is just silly.

Or conflicted selling by the software vendors.

The vendors are clearly at the front of the parade.  They have the brand equity and the feet on the street to frame the conversation.  But too often, the landrush mentality for the coveted installed base means that the cost of implementation and training gets shaved or shelved all together.  Some of the largest vendors are getting hammered now by the market as these chickens come home to roost.

If you are a buyer of this technology, tell yourself the truth, even if your sales person will not. There is a lot of work to implement this much technology.  Database configuration, user set up, data conversion, and interfaces are some of the technical components.  Clinical consulting to change your work flow to leverage the technology is another key element that is worth the investment.  A lot of project management is required to keep all the pieces in line with one another.  But at the heart of it all is the training of the people who will use the system.  Short this at your own peril.