In a recent session I attended about EMR ROI, the guy gave a really technical solution for practices that is highly effective:
Use Walkie Talkies

Ok, I think he said 2 way radios or something, but I think it sounds better walkie talkies. Kind of takes me back to being a kid again and always wanting one of those.

No doubt some people won’t feel comfortable walking around their clinic with a 2 way radio attached to them. However, this doctor swore by them. Basically, solves the challenge of opening the door and looking down the hall and hoping to find someone. I think he had a policy that only the providers were allowed to initiate a call on the radios or something.

So, I didn’t point this out because I thought that walkie talkies were such a fantastic solution. I actually think that IM can solve a lot of the same communication issues and it’s silent. However, what I found most interesting about this solution was that sometimes we over think the solutions to problems.

Sometimes 1 sheet of paper or an excel spreadsheet is better than trying to force something into your EMR.