Coronavirus pandemic puts focus on strengths, weaknesses of EHRs

A central problem the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted is the fact that EHR systems are large, slow monoliths that don’t quickly adapt to new, emergent demands on their design and workflow. Future planning will also need to include routine practice run-throughs for building rapid-alternative-care sites, as many hospitals are setting up alternative patient-care sites during this pandemic. Most EHR systems, however, are very location-based. "EHR disaster preparedness testing in the future will need to be able to simulate large volumes of patients over long periods of time," Dana Bensinger, RN-BC, informatics nurse specialist and client-solution executive with CTG, told Healthcare IT News. Every hospital has disaster plans that typically involve how to handle a large influx of patients during a disaster, and these plans are tested on a regular basis." Bensinger noted, however, that organizations are not always set up to test the EHR during these exercises