As a school health professional, you already know the benefits of electronic health records (EHR) for your community. Does your leadership team?
Before you can adopt EHR software, you need to get budget approval and buy-in from above. Keep reading for five tips from the Magnus Health community to help you showcase the value of EHR software and get leadership approval.
Illustrate the Improved Experience
Family experience is everything. For better or for worse, the technology your school uses has a major impact on your community’s satisfaction. Manual form uploads, clunky interfaces, and complicated login processes can make a bad impression and create friction with your parent community.
An EHR solution like Magnus Health can improve parent satisfaction in several ways:
- Simplify back-to-school and re-enrollment with digital form submission
- Enhance communication about student health and wellness
- Provide transparency into students’ health office visits and treatment
- Give parents peace of mind that their child is safe and healthy
Tiffany Holland, RN leaned into the parent experience to get buy-in for EHR software at Atlanta International School. “Our customers are our students and families. My angle was to showcase what will make our customers happy and what data I can provide if we combine this information,” says Holland.
Showcase the Total Value
EHR software has many benefits beyond the health office. When you’re crafting your pitch to leadership, think about the bigger picture and how each major department at your school can benefit.
For example, your athletics department can use EHR software to track and report on student athletes’ injuries, recovery, and eligibility to play. Your counselors can write treatment notes, communicate with parents, organize action plans, and prepare for emergencies. Your admissions team can use a solution like Magnus Health to streamline form collection, run compliance reports, and communicate with families during the re-enrollment process.
Even your IT department will benefit! When multiple departments use the same software system, it’s easier to train staff, troubleshoot issues, and provide support. A platform like Magnus Health even offers robust customer support which can offload the burden from your IT team.
Atlanta International School’s IT department witnessed a dramatic decrease in parent issues when they moved to Magnus Health. “Our IT department actually made a document showing how many fewer calls they had to take, it was that significant,” says Holland.
Dig into the Data
Administrators love numbers and reports. With an EHR solution like Magnus Health, you can quickly pull reports or build custom reports on the data that matters to your school.
As you’re preparing to ask leadership for EHR approval, show them the reporting capabilities and demonstrate the transparency you’ll be able to provide with a new solution.
Bonus: this data can also be used to validate your job as a school nurse and showcase the ROI of your position. You can pull reports to show how many students you see on a regular basis and visualize the impact of your work.
Consider Other Costs
If budget is an issue, make a list of other budget-approved items at your school that could be cut or consolidated to make room for EHR software.
Lisa Moldowsky, RN at The Calhoun School, noticed that her previous school spent a handsome amount of money on laminating equipment. If your school must choose between laminating documents or software to manage student health information, make a case for why your dollars are better spent on an EHR solution.
“Health and safety really should come first,” says Moldowsky. “There’s no price you can put on it.”
Protect Your School
While no one wants to think about the worst-case scenario, it’s always good to be prepared — especially when students’ health and well-being is involved.
If a family is unhappy with their child’s care and takes your school to court, EHR software can provide an accurate and trustworthy source of record. A solution like Magnus Health can help protect your school and health staff with digital records of historical data and communication.
“In today’s day and age, with liability and technology, I can’t imagine that schools would not adopt some kind of [EHR] system,” says Moldowsky.
Summary
Getting leadership on board with EHR software is critical. We hope these tips help you craft a strong argument and garner buy-in for a new student health solution.
For more information, read our Evaluation Guide and learn how to showcase the return-on-investment of electronic student health records.