Each person in your organization will play an important role in electronic health record (EHR) implementation, and buy-in across your organization is critical. If you encounter resistance during the EHR implementation, consider employing the following measures.

• Identify: Identify fears or misperceptions that staff members may have and emphasize that EHRs can change your organization for the better. Understanding the roots of resistance is a good first step toward solving the problem and may help you target education and training.
• Involve: Involve all staff members in the decision-making process. This will help you achieve buy-in and reinforce the idea that participation is critical to EHR implementation success.
• Reinforce: Reinforce the value of each team member and provide support to resistors. EHR implementation will not be successful without support from everyone in your organization.
• Address: Address any negative behaviors. Negotiating and reaching a positive settlement is important, so try to invent options for mutual gain and always remain objective.
• Listen: Schedule regular meetings or daily staff huddles. These meetings will help to engage everyone in your organization and allow everyone to share their opinions. Remember, what sounds like resistance is often valuable EHR implementation advice.

For More Information

For more information on how to overcome resistance within your organization during EHR implementation, see the following resources.

• How can I increase electronic health record stakeholder involvement?
• Who are the key stakeholders during electronic health record implementation?
• How can I sell electronic health records to potential investors?
• Essential People Skills for EHR Implementation Success