The Right Stuff: High-Tech / High-Touch Engages Physicians with Technology

As Director of Medical Informatics at Gadsden Regional Medical Center, Kim Richee, RN, MSN, delivers on the often-promised “open door policy” and takes it to a new level. Not only is Kim available to physicians and their teams when they need her, she seeks them out in the cafeteria, in the doctors’ lounge, on hospital rounds, and in the field at their practice site or via remote computer.  Kim genuinely wants to see and hear about what is working – and what is not – when it comes to navigating the Electronic Medical Record (EMR) and implementing new medical information technologies.

Kim Richee and Dr. Dhaval Raval, Pulmonologist, build a procedure note template together.

“Being proactive is in my DNA,” said Kim. “Getting ahead of issues and developing solutions that work for physicians and advanced practice providers is well worth the investment of time to seek them out, listen to their feedback and solve problems before a small issue grows into something larger.”

Whether a new provider is going through onboarding or a veteran medical staff member encounters an EMR challenge, Kim’s unique background in both nursing and in informatics is valuable to her, her team and her internal customers.  Over the course of 11 years, Kim has worked as a floor nurse, operating room first assistant and medical office manager.  She has also built databases and written computer programs.

Kim Richee, RN, MSN, Director of Medical Informatics at Gadsden Regional Medical Center

With that dual perspective about what is needed clinically and what is possible technically, Kim is an advocate for every member of the team. She works creatively with physicians’ schedules and individual learning styles to “meet them where they are” – both figuratively and literally.
“Kim’s talent, training and motivation to help leverage technology to serve our patients make her integral to the healthy engagement of our physicians,” stated Stephen Pennington, Market CEO of Gadsden Regional Medical Center.

“It’s been well-documented that EMRs and the introduction of other technology can be a source of potential stress and burnout for physicians, but Kim’s contribution to our professional outreach and onboarding teams has helped us be successful in physician relations, recruitment and retention,” Pennington added.