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Policies and Procedures

General 

All systems have in place policies and procedures.  They help define automatic functions, define rules and often make things run more smoothly and consistently.  Some organizations will review these on a regular basis and some may not have been modified or reviewed since they were written.

No doubt some of them have been reviewed and modified since you implemented your EHR, but there are many, especially those which involve orders, which will have to be reexamined before implementing CPOE.  Even so, once CPOE is in place, there may be many that will require modification now that you truly understand the new workflow imposed by CPOE.

It members in the organization are not familiar with CPOE, it is difficult if not impossible to develop good policies about using the system prior to implementation.  One strategy that should be considered is to start developing policies after a pilot when individuals start to understand the ramifications of the system. 

Issues:  

     Defining the legal medical record during the transition to full implementation

     Verbal orders:  Eg: can nurses enter verbal orders for medication

     policy for resident / student order sign off - is an order sent before or after it is cosigned

     Policy for PAs and extenders signing orders.

For more information about policies and procedures specific to your stage of implementation, choose one of the items below:

Relevant Implementation Stages

Planning

Executing

Monitoring and Controlling

Transitioning to Operations

Ongoing Maintenance and Support