10 Steps to Selecting an Electronic Health Record

The Electronic Health Record – EHR – has become the bogeyman of healthcare reform for many organizations. It is clear that in order to meet the requirements of reform law, providers must have an EHR in place, that it has to allow for consumer review and input, that it has to be able to interface with systems from other providers, the list goes on and on.

Although some organizations have, or are pursuing the development of, “homebuilt” applications, for many this is beyond the capabilities of their limited IT resources. The only solution seems to be purchasing an EHR system from a third party. Investment in an application that will meet organizational needs and external requirements is neither easy nor cheap. It is important that your agency develop a comprehensive strategy to define and select the EHR application that is right for you.

Here are 10 steps to consider as you contemplate the selection of an EHR provider:

1. Define your organization’s SMART goals for the EHR (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-bound).

2. Review current workflows and systems (Current State Analysis).

3. Identify all internal or external entities that will be integrated into the system.

4. Create a Comprehensive Vendor Questionnaire that defines all of the elements relevant to the task.

5. Evaluate products, using your workflows as a foundation for demonstrations.

6. Request references from likely vendors, particularly from organizations similar to yours. Contact these references.

7. Review your Business Case – Return on Investment, Total Cost of Ownership, etc..

8. Visit a live site where the tool is being used.

9. Create a Decision Matrix, score the potential vendors based on above criteria, analyze the results.

10. Make a decision and begin implementation.

Clearly this is a major undertaking, for a major investment that is key to your future success. Selecting a team to create and execute the process is also critical. You want to be large enough to be comprehensive and to share the workload, but small enough to be agile and not run aground.

More information on these ten steps can be found from SearchHealthIT or you can contact Innovaision, LLC for additional assistance.