Conducting An EHR Vendor Assessment
Steps to Conducting an EHR Vendor Assessment
- Identify high-priority needs.
- Identify the most needed EHR features.
- Set specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time bound EHR goals.
- List key decisions of potential deal-breakers.
- Decide where to store the EHR data: in-office, vendor server, or web-based.
- Narrow the field:
- Solicit the EHR experience of colleagues.
- Obtain EHR evaluaton tools and resources from medical societies.
- Utilize online information about different vendors.
- Further narrow the field using various metrics comparing vendors.
- Conduct 2-5 face-to-face vendor demonstrations.
- Compare core functionalities, look and feel, and practice management features.
- Personally preview each EHR on site, and contact references.
- Prepare lessons learned questions by your practice before, during, and after implementation.