Question

Your organization has decided to implement the EHR system, and you have been appointed as a member of steering committee. Discuss the role of the steering committee in EHR implementation

Answer 1

Successful EHR implementations involve many areas of the healthcare organization. Clinical services, quality assurance, finance, and information technology (IT), all have an investment in the approach to system implementation. These same groups have a stake in the ongoing management of the EHR as well. The configuration and management of the EHR continue post-implementation to meet program growth, changing clinical requirements, new billing/payer rules, integrated health initiatives, and more. During and after implementation, it is essential that the organization maintain an EHR steering committee. The steering committee should be composed of a cross-functional group of the organization’s leaders.

Common positions represented on a steering committee include:

CFO or Controller
Accounting Manager
Senior Program Directors/VPs
IT Director
Operations
Quality Assurance
EHR Project Manager (facilitates the steering committee meetings)

The Steering Committee oversees the implementation and ongoing enhancements of the EHR. The steering committee’s initial work is very focused on the details of implementation. Post implementation, the committee’s work shifts to managing priorities, timelines and maintaining standardization across the organization. The steering committee’s role is to make decisions about how the EHR will be managed and implemented throughout the organization. This is particularly important in large multi-service organizations where implementations are often staged in multiple phases.
The steering committee is often charged with setting EHR project priorities and timelines so that the agency can ensure:

• The requested project has a defined return on investment (ROI); whether it be in improved clinical outcomes, productivity, system compliance, or another critical objective.
• The EHR work plan is manageable within the resources (human and financial) that the organization has allocated.
• The cross-functional steering committee ensures that all primary areas of the EHR get considered when priorities and decisions get negotiated.

Roles and Responsibilities

1. Steering committee members:

• Must be given authority commensurate with their responsibilities on the committee.
• Must be educated about HIT and EHR, with education part of the formative stages of the committee’s work. It is not necessary, or even desirable, to seek only members who come to the committee with such knowledge.
• Are expected to attend every meeting. Delegates are not acceptable.
• Must represent their constituents, and hence must also have the opportunity to educate them and learn of their requirements.
• Are expected to work as a team with other committee members, demonstrating willingness to reach consensus in decision making.
• Must be able to perform their duties, hence may need release time to conduct product reviews, review proposals, etc.

2. Steering committee meetings must be:

• Action-oriented. An agenda and collateral information must be supplied sufficiently in advance so that members can be prepared to make decisions.
• Followed by record of actions taken (lengthy transcripts of every discussion are not appropriate or necessary).
• Treated as the final authority within the scope of the committee charter. Decisions made by the committee should not be revoked behind the scenes.
• Led by an individual who has meetings management skills, with authority to curtail trivial discussions, move items to a parking lot if not pertinent to the topic at hand, and seek alternative members if there is a lack of performance.
• Conducted in a manner that enables real decisions to be made; a meetings management training program should be conducted in advance for all members of the committee.