“Electronic Health Records (EHRs) are becoming more than just electronic patient documentation systems; they are evolving into tools that assist physicians in managing the patient care tasks they perform for major types of patients they see. These systems allow providers to analyze, manage and optimize the work that has to be performed, as well as to direct and to delegate it to others. EHRs based on a Workflow Management System (WfMS) accomplish this by offering a way for the user to customize workflow to practice specialty, to local clinical and administrative processes and to user preferences. If an EHR can be instructed to do tasks in a customized sequence – automatically – based on who the patient is, why they came to the office, what care needs to be provided, when and where care needs to be provided, and how it best fits the office staffing, the EHR is not just a patient documentation system, it is an EHR Workflow Management System.”
Article
Chuck Webster, Electronic Health Record Workflow Management Systems, 11 December 2009
