You know that other clinics are using tablets instead of clipboards, software instead of charts, EMRs instead of traditional filing systems, impairment rating calculators instead of the A.M.A. guides.
Part of you wants to upgrade your workplace, but work at your office has been so hectic. Instigating a big change is the last thing on your mind. You feel like you don’t have time to try new solutions.
But maybe the reason why you don’t have time is because you’ve got so many problems. It’s a snake eating itself—it seems like it could go on forever, but it can’t. Eventually, you’re going to run out of tail.
Medicine is going digital, and the time to change is now. Upgrading to new office technology—such as tablets instead of clipboards, electronic records instead of filing cabinets—is not a luxury.
Change is stressful, and can cause a decrease in morale—in the short term. But in the long run, morale improves. Why? Because, if the changes are good ones, work becomes easier.