'Physician champion' central to health IT implementation success

It's an intuitive conclusion, but one worth reflecting on anyway. Without physician backing for your IT implementation project, it's unlikely to gain popular support, according to various expert observers.

For one thing, physicians are in a better position to serve in the IT advocate role than your facility or practice's IT lead, because they're much more likely to anticipate the questions their peers will have, suggests James Slawson, a family and community medicine doctor at the Medical College of Wisconsin who promoted the effort when his practice rolled out charge-capture software. Doctors are often in a better position to serve as a liason between the technology and medical practice, as well, according to Slawson.

So, if one physician lead for the project is good, would two be better? That's what Rosemarie Nelson of the MGMA Health Care Consulting Group recommends: a physician who's an IT enthusiast and another who's not as well informed. Why? The one who's not tech-savvy can speak more effectively to colleagues who are also getting started on technology learning, she told American Medical News.

To learn more this approach:
- read this iHealthBeat article

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