Getting your practice ready for the EHR implementation can be a difficult task. The truth is that the advice columns that you see usually contradict each other and the direction that you receive from your fellow physicians may not apply to your practice.

But there are these basic guidelines that every practice needs to know in order to purchase an EHR.


Measure your Practice’s Readiness

Is your practice ready to face the changes in workflow associated with switching from paper records to digital or from one EHR to another? To answer this you need to do analysis of both your clinical and financial circumstances.

You need to be financially ready. Having server-based EHRs would require high installation costs that can cripple your practice financially. Alternatively, having a cloud-based EHR can help ease down the financial burden by paying relatively inexpensive monthly fee with no startup costs. Next make sure if your staff is ready for the switch. If your staff is not computer literate than it can make the implementation slightly difficult, so look for a vendor that has a dedicated implementation team to provide you a smooth transition.

Make a Plan

Plan for Implementation begins by knowing how the new EHR will affect the operations in the short term. Initially the implementation will be slowed down while the staff gets accustomed to new systems do don’t expect your practice to be performing at a maximum efficiency right at the start so adjust your expectations accordingly.

You also need to address the concerns regarding the security issues that may occur as a result of implementation.  Review the new HIPAA rule regarding the financial penalties for non compliance, in order to make sure that your practice is in compliance once the implementation is complete.

Sift through the vendors

Once you are ready with a plan, start looking at potential vendors. To find out which solutions will work for your practice, give the vendors common office and patient scenarios so they can know how their software will handle these issues. It is also important to ask your vendor to be clear about costs. 

Don’t only rely on whatever sales person tells you. Speak to current users in your specialty and get some idea of how the software will work and what changes it will make to your practice.

Deciding to implement an EHR is one of the biggest decisions your practice is ever going to make. So make sure you don’t rush into buying a new EHR system, instead analyze your practice, plan and conduct a comprehensive research before making up your mind on a new EHR solution.

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