Debra Wiggs, CMPE, Director of Practice Administration Services for the Patient Education Center, provides the following tips to help you make electronic health records (EHR) a reality in your offices.
Software Selection
• Take advantage of the EHR planning tools available from Medical Group Management Association (MGMA)*.
• Invest the time in testing out the EHR system. Keep in mind that sales people will typically say “yes” their system has every feature and function that your practice requires. While flexibility is certainly helpful in adapting a system to your practice needs, keep in mind that customizing a system takes time. Ask to see the system in place in an environment similar to your own practice.
• If you aren’t sure what your offices need, consider bringing in an expert to make an objective evaluation or use your MGMA assembly or society listserve to ask your colleagues for their input.
• Know when to buy. No system is going to be perfect. If you find a software vendor that offers a systems profile similar to what you envisioned should work for your office, then go for it.
• When considering your options, get the offers in writing. What are they offering? What are you getting? What is the recourse if the system is not what you expect or need? Ask around to find out if other practices have had good experience with the vendor and specifically what their customer service is like.
Implementation
• Make sure that you have a clear understanding of the role your software vendor will play in the implementation process.
• Involve your staff in the implementation process; provide as much clarity regarding the timeline and allow them to help structure the implementation.
• Be realistic. “Don’t try to bite it all off at once,” Wiggs advises. “You might have a system up and running in 3 months, but it’ll likely take up to 18 months before you are fully integrated.”
• Define what “paperless” really means in your environment.
• Start preparing as soon as possible for scanning sections of patients’ charts. For example, if you’ve been using a color printer or color paper, it might be worthwhile to make a black and white copy and to switch to white paper. You might want to consider taping lab results securely to letter-sized paper. Also, stop stapling pages together as removing them can be time consuming.
Ongoing Management
• Are there aspects of your process that will do better with internal management versus external management?
• “Do not skimp on hardware,” Wiggs says. Investing in new hardware such as a faster computer with more memory might be a better idea than attempting to upgrade a current system and risking costly crashes that lose time and productivity.
* This resource is only available to members of the MGMA. If you would like more information on membership, click here.