Characteristics of high velocity organizations are that
(1) when they design their work they fastidiously make clear what they expect will lead to success with great attention to discerning when what is actually happening differs from expectations,
(2) when they improve their work, they do so in an disciplined, knowledge building fashion, and
(3) when they learn something locally, they share the discovery systemically.
An article by Steve Lohr describes how electronic medical records (EMRs), when used properly, support the three knowledge building, knowledge sharing behaviors listed above (Steve Lohr, “Health Care That Puts a Computer on the Team” NY Times, December 27). He offers examples of EMR being used to identify the best known, evidence based science when physicians have to determine a course of treatment, being used to detect when patient behaviors or responses are contrary to expectations, and being used to create large sample set data to advance the best known evidence based science.
Of course, ‘used properly’ depends on the critical behavior characteristic of high velocity organizations–leadership that views development and discovery of useful knowledge as core to the organization’s success and so, in this case, using EMRs as knowledge capture, knowledge building tools rather than merely using them as electronic repositories of information–high tech and all but no more effective than paper records.