Beginning the process of choosing and implementing an electronic health record (EHR) for your cardiovascular practice requires a number of considerations that will influence your office’s day-to-day practice. Each office determines how best to handle these considerations, given their unique situation; there is no “one-size-fits-all” product or process. With so many issues to take into consideration, it is no wonder that most practices consider the process to be daunting. In order to maximize the potential benefits of an EHR, practices should consider the following aspects before looking at specific EHR vendors.
Goals
Staff Buy-In
Funding
Technology Assessment
Goals
Before meeting with vendors, a practice should begin by defining their goals from the EHR software. These goals will shape what becomes the “best” EHR for the practice. Some questions to consider when determining practice goals:
Are you adopting an EHR to improve workflow?
Do you want to be able to track lab results?
Is it important that the EHR be able to share data with local hospitals?
Are you adopting so that your practice will be able to participate in the CMS e-Prescribing Program or the federal EHR incentive program?
Once you’ve outlined what you are trying to achieve, you’ll be better able to select an EHR that fully meets your needs.
Staff Buy-In
Staff involvement is crucial to the success of the implementation. By involving staff early in the EHR process, your practice leadership can better demonstrate the value an EHR can provide for each staff member, and prepare them for the disruption in workflow that will occur during implementation.
In a perfect process, each group of staff, including physicians, nurses, medical assistants and practice administrators, would be involved in identifying key goals for the software and best implementation practices. Particularly important is the involvement of your practice manager, who must ensure the practice management components of the EHR are aligned with the overall business of your practice.
Funding
EHRs can be expensive. One place to look before you begin your search is with your local hospital. Because of regulatory changes, hospitals are now allowed to provide EHR software at subsidized prices to their affiliated clinicians. Contact your hospital physician representative to ask about their software before you purchase a different vendor at higher cost.
A good question to ask your hospital representative is: “Because of the loosening of Stark regulations, many hospitals are starting to provide some sort of EHR solution to their affiliated clinicians. Is there any such program or initiative at your hospital?”
There are several benefits to obtaining EHR software through a local hospital including free or subsidized pricing, and interoperability with the hospital and its affiliated practices.
In addition, the federal government offers funding to practices that implement an EHR, up to 75 percent of their allowable Medicare Part B charges, subject to caps. The time has never been better to begin using an EHR in your practice.
Technology Assessment
Finally, before looking at specific EHRs, your practice should consider its technology needs. Think about how the basic requirements of EHR software fit with your current and future technological capabilities. For example, how old are the computers in your office? Will they need to be updated with new software, or will they need to be completely replaced? Approximately how many new computers and peripherals, like laptops or tablets, will need to be purchased? Do you have the technology infrastructure in place to fully integrate an EHR into practice workflow?