Successful introduction of an emergency department electronic health record

Our emergency department had always relied on a paper-based infrastructure. Our goal was to convert to a paperless, efficient, easily accessible, technologically advanced system to support optimal care. We outline our sequential successful transformation, and describe the resistance, costs, incentives and benefits of the change. Critical factors contributing to the significant change included physician leadership, training and the rate of the endorsed change. We outline various tactics, tools, challenges and unintended benefits and problems.