Getting Rid of GROSS Electronic Health Records

In 2017, Honolulu-based Hawaii Pacific Health launched an initiative called "Get Rid of Stupid Stuff" to simplify and improve inefficient or nonsensical aspects of their electronic health record (EHR) system. Staff were asked to submit suggestions for fixes, resulting in over 450 total submissions.

A triage system was created to determine the best approach for each suggestion. Simple fixes like removing irrelevant prompts went to the "Get Rid of Stupid Stuff" team, while more complex issues were handled by EHR working groups. When a "stupid stuff" idea was approved, the person who suggested it was invited to help with the redesign.

The initiative produced meaningful results by reducing unnecessary nursing documentation time and making the EHR more user-friendly.

Of the 450 submissions, about 10% were “never meant to occur”, 75% were “needed, but could be more efficient”, and 15% were “required, but not understood”. This resulted in many successful changes have been implemented.

What this demonstrates is the value of soliciting frontline clinician input to improve workflows and eliminate inefficiencies related to health IT systems.