Based on the observations, process or process related comments and activities was a factor in 62% of the observations. The software solution was a factor in 54% of the observations and technology a factor in 39%. Remember, observations could be categorized into multiple categories.
The observations were further categorized by positive and negative sentiment, based on tone of voice, action or body language of the physician.Overall, there were 23% positive observations and 69% negative with 5% categorized as neutral. The positive results were highly skewed toward younger physicians or those who were computer savvy from any age group.
Some of the representative comments included:
- “I don’t have time for this; I will call from my phone to place orders.”
- “I did not know I went to medical school to become a secretary.”
- “This is ridiculous!! All it does is take time away from my patients. I am with the patient now 5 minutes and with the computer 15 – 20 minutes.”
- “Something is going to get missed and someone is going to get hurt.”
- “I have not put orders in the computer for over 20 years and I am not starting now. I will retire before I start with this crap.”
Some of the representative behaviors included:
- Doctors would write orders on paper chart and leave for nurses to enter in system.
- Doctors were reluctant to ask for assistance (even though it was obvious they were having difficulties).
- A few doctors left the floor and then proceeded to call in the orders because they refused to place the orders themselves.
- A few doctors have slammed/pounded the keyboard in frustration.
- The nurses were getting very frustrated with doctors that didn’t enter their own orders (because they knew they would have to enter them for them).
An examination of the comments and behaviors, and many like them, reveals that the physicians’ comments and actions weren’t about the actual software solution, but about the process of actually entering in the orders. Getting physicians to overcome this hurdle will be critical in the success of any enterprise-wide transformation.
Overview | Methodology | Results | Conclusions | Commentary