How do I get started on the journey to paperless EHR?

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The first step in your roadmap to full paperless EHR is to build a strategy. 

• What are your business goals?
• What do you want to accomplish, and by when?
• Who will keep the initiative on time, and on budget?
• Do you have the leadership in place to make it sustainable?
• What are your regional competitors doing?
• Working backwards, what critical outcomes data will you need for marketing what you do to hospitals?

Create a Budget, Finance It

In many EHR initiatives, software often takes the spotlight.  While focused software is foundational, you’ll also need technology infrastructure, hardware, and expert professional services to help you maximize ROI in the timeframe you expect.  In your baseline budget, here are a few items to consider:

• Executive backing and decision making
• Communication strategy for optimal results
• Project management to keep things on time and on budget
• Current process review and optimization to identify your organization’s early wins
• Hardware, software, networks, wireless
• Interfaces, integrations
• Security
• Maintenance, support
• Storage, backup, disaster recovery, business continuity
• Interoperability with health information exchanges
• Implementation, training, refresher training

Incentives and Payment Plans

Ask your vendors about payment plans and what can be paid for upfront vs. what can be broken into monthly payments.  

• What can be capitalized? For example, will your accounting practices allow capitalization of training and upfront services?
• Are there tax incentives and advantages available?
• Can you take advantage of an existing regional health exchange?
• Are state incentives or grants available?

Call your Peers

Before you finalize your business case and move to proposals, call a few similarly-sized peers who are running full EHR to hear about their lessons learned.  What went right with the program? What would they have done differently?  What resources in their organization helped the program be successful?  Where did they cut corners and should have perhaps considered otherwise?  There’s nothing like a little free advice from peers to help increase your odds of success.

Proposal Review

Take time to review proposals carefully to make sure you have a complete and accurate view of costs, software entitlements, and benefits. Training is an essential detail that’s often under-quoted by vendors looking to capture your attention with price solely.  It’s also worth asking what isn’t included; it’s likely you will find wide differences. 

Ready for the next step?

Link to the full white paper from American HealthTech: EHR: from 0 to 60 mph in 5 Steps - How to Justify, Architect, Execute, and Sustain a Successful EHR Program.