Adoption of New Technology Systems - Essay Example

In this study, their effective application in promoting adoption of a new Electronic Health Records System, EHR, at a nursing institution will be discussed. It is the role of the nurse leaders to ensure that the EHR system being introduced is fully understood by the nurses, and also make it known why it is a necessary innovation (Mooney & Boyle, 2011). In this case, for instance, it would be effective to explain to the nurses that the government, through its Health Information Technology for economic and Clinical Health Act is offering professionals in the healthcare context 44,000$ over five years if they successfully demonstrate the use of EHR systems.

Additionally, failure to meet this will see the Medicare reimbursements reduced by 1% annually. In this way, the nurses will understand that the EHR systems are more of a regulation with benefits in the healthcare context. In facilitating less resistance and higher chances of adoption of the EHR systems, it would be wise to apply the Roger’s theory of diffusion of innovations. Its first element is relative advantage. Relative advantage is simply the level to which an innovation is better, in a measurable way than the concept, it is replacing (Rogers, 2003).

In short, the leader should highlight the benefits of the EHR systems. One of them is that unlike traditional methods of recording patient information, they store all information about a patient in one place. This includes treatment history, immunization dates, laboratory tests, and radiology images. This makes the task of tracing patient information simpler for the nurse. Again, EHR systems are bound to cut costs for both patients and providers. This is because their digital nature requires less storage space, faster retrieval, and easier transfer (Bates, 2010).

The second element in Roger’s theory is