Human Behavior and the Electronic Health Record

There has been a lot of jibber-jabbering going on at work in the past couple of weeks.  We are getting ready to go to a new electronic health record (note EHR) in January, and everyone is getting their panties into various stages of a wad over the whole thing. And for good reason.....change sucks!
It seems that this move to yet another computer program brings out the best and worst in human behavior.....

1) There is the cheerleader (and one of our fearless leaders) who has the job of telling us all how it is going to be and then spends lots of time jumping up and down in e-mails encouraging us and yelling "Go Team!!!"  as we all sit in our offices and grumble about how tough this is, threatening to throw spit wads at our computer screens.

2) There are those of us who are overwhelmed in our jobs, who have taken too much call in the past couple of weeks, who are seeing too many patients and trying desperately to negotiate the old EHR, who haven't been to the gym in over a week, who've been looking for extra help for two years, who are flatly replying to the cheerleader's e-mails;  "I have too much to do."

3) There is a large group of us who are forced to work 60-100 hours per week in a desperate attempt to cram our heads with all the medical knowledge currently available in three short years and now being asked to do "one more thing," but who are so overwhelmed by it all that we can't even complain in a loud voice.  How can the promise of pizza and beer on a rare weekend off be so well received?  Because it allows us to bond!

4) There is the one who simply says "I'm not talking right now."

5) There are very many patients out there who are probably trying to understand just why they suddenly are being told that they have to wait approximately six months before they can see any of their regular providers.  So, en masse they troop through the ER in an attempt to get a follow-up appointment that may be only three months away.

6) There is the staff that shall remain unnamed that is working diligently away at all odd hours of the day and night to move the project along and have us ready by the middle of January.

There is nothing like "change sucks!"  to stress all of us out in an already busy and stressful holiday/cold and flu season. 

But overall,  I think we're going to come out on the other side A-ok.

At least we'll have enjoyed some good pizza and beer.