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If you purchase an EHR system expecting to make a fortune without any additional work, you are setting your practice up for failure. EHR implementation has a better chance of success if effective strategies are employed throughout the implementation process, and if all staff has an understanding of these strategies.

EHR Strategies

While the leadership of EHR implementation is important, success of the outcome will depend on the strategies deployed during the implementation process. New obstacles will arise frequently throughout the implementation process, but with the appropriate strategy in place you will have the ability to conquer them.

Planning

Planning is absolutely critical to the success of EHR implementation. Write out a plan before beginning the implementation process, and make sure the leader(s) and other involved participants have a thorough understanding of it. Using project management software, talking to experts and other users of the same EHR system, and site visits to other clinics and practices that successfully implemented EHRs are all good components of a successful implementation plan.

Workflow Redesign

EHR implementation offers practices a workflow redesign, which will help the practice work more efficiently by automation and eliminating extra steps. The practice should review the current paper process, analyze the steps and record them on a flow diagram. Subsequently, the practice must determine if the process can be improved by comparing it to a flow diagram of the EHR process that accomplishes the same task. Be sure to thoroughly examine the following processes for possible improvement: medication refilling, lab and test ordering, lab reviewing, health maintenance tracking, referral making, prescription writing, patient check-in, communicating test results to patients, interoffice messaging and note charting.

Scanning Strategy

Different sized practices will have different scanning strategies. Smaller offices may chose to scan in records of patients with scheduled appointments just before they come in. A larger practice may spend the six months before going live with their EHR to intensively scan all patient charts. The latter, however, will require extra personnel and multiple scanners. The benefits of these two approaches finds physicians minimizing the amount of time a staff spends scanning charts to focus on 90 percent of the key data expected to be needed for any given patient. This limits time and money spent on scanning data that isn’t critical and can be scanned at a later date.

Learn More About EHR Systems

An implementation plan, a workflow redesign, and a scanning strategy are critical approaches that will help determine if the practice’s EHRimplementation is a success or failure.

If you need more information about EHR systems and how they may improve the quality of health care for your practice, contact e-MDs, a leader in electronic medical record software provision.

e-MDs offers a host of affordable, certified EHR solutions for physicians and facilities looking to modernize or enhance their services with the latest electronic health records technology. e-MDs is committed to providing affordable and integrated EHR and Practice Management Software solutions, including clinical, financial and document management modules designed to automate medical practice processes and chart management – delivering the clinical tools needed to succeed in today’s health care environment.

You can find additional detailed information about all the different services and benefits an EHR system has to offer your practice by contacting a representative right now at 1.888.344.9836 or sales@e-mds.com.