Change management - recommendations for successful electronic medical records implementation.

SUMMARY: Change is difficult and managing change even more so. With the advent of Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) and the difficulty of its acceptance, understanding physician's attitudes and the psychology of change management is imperative. While many authors describe change management theories, one comes nearest to describing this particularly difficult transition. In 1969, Elizabeth Kübler-Ross wrote her seminal treatise, On Death and Dying, detailing the psychological changes terminally ill patients undergo. Her grieving model is a template to examine the impact of change. By following a physician through the EMR maze, understanding the difficulties he/she perceives and developing a plan other change agents are able to use, the paper gives practical recommendations to EMR change management.