T-shirts can mean a lot. They might be among the "small things" that trigger emotional involvement and help a big project work, according to Dedra Cantrell, RN.

In her presentation at last week's summit on healthcare information technology and the electronic medical record (EMR), sponsored by the Technology Association of Georgia (Atlanta), Cantrell described the development of a large EMR system as essentially an effort in dealing with human nature, not just technology.

Cantrell, chief information officer for Emory Healthcare (Atlanta), said that the size of the project had meant putting "interdisciplinary, operational teams in place and involving "as many stakeholders [as necessary] in the process." This was extremely important, she said, because "multiple layers of users" would be involved in developing and then using the EMR.

Helping to push the effort, she said, were special T-shirts – simple apparel but serving to identify "Stars" and "Aces."

Stars are "physician champions" supporting the Emory electronic Medical Record Initiative (EeMRI for short). Aces are non-physicians on the EeMRI team, she explained.

"Sometimes little things can mean a lot," Cantrell said, the T-shirts being "one of the biggest" of the little things. "People kept asking, 'How can I be a Star – how can I be an Ace?"

The result: "We had close to 300 physicians volunteer to get additional [EMR] training, additional perks for providing feedback about the system. They were truly engaged into the process of implementation in their particular areas.

"The same thing for non-physicians," she said. "Every shift through the clinical discipline had added training and support, people wanting to be the 'go-to' person for basic questions."

— By Don Long, Managing Editor