Step One — Determine your Strategy
Honestly assessing your practice and workflow can reveal opportunities for improvement. We recommend a workflow analysis as a key step in preparing your practice for an EHR. Once you have an understanding of the inefficiencies in your current workflow you can begin to formalize your strategic plan.
Develop a strategic plan by thinking about what you want to see accomplished once the EHR is up and running in your office. This will help move the project forward over time. Your strategy could aim to:
- Increase communications efficiency through instant access to patient records
- Reduce duplicate tests or labs
- Improve coding accuracy
- Reduce transcription costs
- Improve legibility of notes
- Quickly print off patient education content
- Access patient records from off-site
Functional Evaluation Matrix
The American Academy of Family Physicians has developed a useful checklist for practices planning to adopt an EHR. Use this tool as is, or modify it to your needs, to help your practice determine what capabilities it needs in an EHR and to make the right purchase decision.
Use their list of EHR functions to determine what’s critical, important, or optional for you. Bring this chart to vendor demos to determine if the EHRs you’re evaluating meet your needs.