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EHR Series, Part 1 – The Essential Foundation for Successful EHR Implementation

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The Essential Foundation for Successful EHR Implementation
EHR, you know the benefits and the need, but the process of installing one may be a convoluted maze of twisting turns. Just negotiating the IT maze will take careful planning and a deep understanding of your clinical processes. There is no time like the present to begin.
HP would like to help you strategize the successful course to ultimate success. We invite you to begin this month with our guide to initial considerations for EHR implementation. Each month we will help guide you through the many steps involved with transitioning to EHR.
Our newly published White Paper, 'Making the most of Technology Transitions' EHR imperatives and opportunities in today's medical practice. This whitepaper provides clear details of timelines and requirements to qualify for government incentives, and guidance around HIPAA & HITECH regulatory requirements. Strategies must be in place for success, and our first step in the strategy for this month is to develop a realistic implementation budget and a solid project plan.

Develop an implementation budget.
Many factors must be considered for your implementation budget, including;
•  Hardware, which can include, but is not limited to:
•  PCs or laptops for interacting with the EHR
•  Scanners for registration or HIM,
•  Servers for the database
•  Modems for faxing records
•  Network equipment for protecting data,
•  Access points for patient or staff internet access
•  Software/software licenses which can vary according to the size of your practice,
•  EHR licensing per physician
•  Additional non-standard modules to the EHR such as E-prescribing or patient portal.
•  Operational/implementation costs, which may include;
•  Outsourced IT services
•  Informatics consultants
•  Maintenance costs
•  Annual licensing upkeep
•  Continued support costs
•  EDI or ECM costs
•  Enterprise Content Management
•  Connecting with Health Information Exchanges,
•  Training costs
•  Education for physicians, nurses, pharmacists, billing staff, and anyone else who needs to interact with the EHR.
Budgeting for operational costs, and enough resources to implement and run your EHR is vital. These costs must be considered, and are essential data points to ensure the EHR can be deployed within your organizations means. Your practice may have to cover the initial costs (and will have to be sustainable until Meaningful Use incentives pay out), so you may want to investigate vendor financing or leasing options (possible link to leasing/finance??). HP offers a comprehensive program to ease the costs of EHR transition. Upfront cost may be a concern but consider offsetting that against the potential lower maintenance costs of a new system.

Create a project plan
One of the most critical decisions you will make when developing your EHR system is choosing the right technology vendor. Choosing a provider who has significant experience in healthcare IT is critical. Your project plan should encompass a checklist for vendors, as well as factors to consider in each of the following categories:
•  Reliability – are all your existing products equipped with 'trusted computing' hardware? It is critical that the system containing your patient records is up and running at all times. Once you are using an EHR and have gone to paperless charts, your entire practice will depend on the reliability of the technology you are using.
•  Security – a vital part of the whole system. Newer computers contain advanced security features that help prevent virus, spyware or malware attacks. A loss of data or system crash could compromise your patient records, and severely damage your practice. Security is also critical to lowering your risk for HIPAA or HITECH violations. HITECH regulations come with considerable financial penalties for lost or incorrectly managed patient records.
•  Performance – Are the processors equipped to deal with EHR demands? Are they quick enough to keep up with the speed doctors require when accessing information a point of care? The last thing you want to do as a physician is to be waiting on your computer to catch up to you. Adopting an EHR is difficult enough without having to worry about slow computers.
•  Support – What is the support system for both hardware and software? Will consultation, installation, and configuration be covered? Can it be customized to suit the size and demands of your practice? Will it be fast and convenient? Newer products can be easier to support, diagnose and repair.
•  Application compatibility – Do all components work well together to deliver a reliable, secure and manageable solution for your medical practice? Do they interface with each other to give a better physician and patient experience? Do you have to sign in over and over, or can you use a single sign on?
•  Connectivity – Are all products capable of connecting securely with the network to provide real-time access in the medical office and at point of care? Can you use the tools at home and in the office? Do you have flexibility to use your mobile device, tablet, laptop, or workstation wherever you need to use it?
Most importantly your project plan should outline expectations, establish deadlines, and assign responsibility for task completion. An effective plan should be updated frequently to reflect progress and necessary changes along the way. If you don't have a complete and effective project plan, you could create significant risks to physician productivity, patient safety, and the overall EHR project.
A PC technology refresh using the latest desktops, workstations and hardware to support mobility (notebooks, tablets and handhelds) will pave the way for a successful EHR implementation in all the areas mentioned on the checklist.
Follow us next month when we discuss further considerations for successful EHR implementation.
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