The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality wants to help small and medium-sized medical practices adapt their business workflows to new health information technology applications.

When providers install electronic health applications, it changes how work is performed and information shared. Their customary paper-based processes need to be redesigned to fit new electronic workflows, the agency said.

AHRQ plans to publish an online toolkit for small practices and clinics by January 2011, according to Dr. Jon White, AHRQ’s health IT director. Redesigning workflow is a critical first step in any effective health IT implementation, he said.

“Skipping this step can lead to significant unintended consequences, which could potentially compromise patient safety,” he said this week. “Unfortunately, most small and medium-sized practices do not have adequate resources to address workflow redesign, which is why we are developing the toolkit.”

There is no standard description of workflows for healthcare processes to guide providers about where and how to incorporate electronic health records and other health IT in their operations or how to analyze and redesign workflows, White said. 

AHRQ posted a request for information in the June 25 Federal Register to collect data about approaches, useful technology and reporting procedures from health IT experts, vendors, industry groups, and, especially, small and medium-sized practices that have already deployed health IT.

AHRQ also is interested in learning about pitfalls to avoid, complicated or inappropriate software for smaller practices and the support and training available to the staff during health IT deployment. Best practices and resources may be included in the online toolkit. Comments are due Aug. 24.

For example, with electronic health records, physicians do not need to bring a paper chart into the exam room. Instead, physicians bring up the patient record on a small laptop and can enter new data using checklists or templates that are built into the application.

AHRQ is interested in the influence of health IT applications on the operations of smaller providers, including their workload, the impact of health IT applications on other services, such as lab systems, and coordination of care among staff.