Why to Never Cut Training from Your EMR Budget

Investing in training is investing in your TEAM

If you’ve ever tried to put together a piece of furniture with instructions that only include pictures, you know how frustrating it is to try to complete a task when the directions are unclear. Now imagine that you’re not constructing a simple, pre-fabricated coffee table, but trying to use the software system you just spent a significant amount of time and money to select and implement. Without training, you find yourself wandering blind and suddenly the system that seemed so easy to use in the product demonstration feels impossible to navigate efficiently. This is, simply, why you never want to cut training from your EMR budget.

3 Good Reasons to Never Cut Training

Time

Yes, implementation can feel overwhelming and you and your staff may feel like they just want to get back to work already. Who has the time to sit through detailed training sessions? We picked this system because it’s easy to use, right? Sure, but it’s easy to use only when you know how to use it. Training is one of those situations where you have to invest a resource in order to have more of it later, in this case time. When you invest the time in thorough training now, you will save much more time in confusion and aimless clicking from screen to screen later, allowing for the increase in efficiency you envisioned when choosing your EMR.

Money

Like anything worth having, training carries a cost with it. You may be tempted to believe your budget can’t withstand the impact of paying for hours of training. In reality, your budget can’t withstand the impact of not paying for training. All of that time your staff could be wasting trying to figure out how to use your new EMR on the fly is time they’re getting paid for, and time they aren’t able to spend doing other, more important tasks. Training costs should be factored into your budget from the beginning of your EMR search. Don’t think of it as negotiable; you can’t afford to.

People

Imagine you’ve been doing your job one way for quite some time. You know exactly what you’re doing. You’re good at it. You’re efficient at it. Now imagine you’ve been told you have to do your job in a new way, but aren’t given the details of what that new way is. Sound frustrating? It is. Training is essential to keeping your staff’s sanity and preserving practice morale. Nothing is more frustrating than suddenly not knowing how to do your job well. Don’t put your staff through this. Get them the training they need so they can continue to do their job well.

We’ve all experienced the frustration of trying to accomplish a task without knowing how to do it, but feeling that way when using your shiny new EMR just isn’t necessary. You chose the EMR you did because you wanted to increase practice efficiency, and when you understand how your software works with your practice’s workflow you can do just that. Saving money is good, but feeling like you’re getting the value you expect from the investment you just made is much better. Don’t put yourself in the position of wondering how to do all those things you were sure your EMR could do. Get the training. You’ll thank yourself later.