EHR implementation checklist for new practices
August 17, 2022
Preparing to implement an electronic health record (EHR) system for your independent practice takes some careful planning. An EHR checklist for implementation can help your new practice get up and running quickly and efficiently.
One of the most critical tasks on your EHR checklist will be to ensure confidentiality, availability, and integrity of your patient health information as well as to ensure the timely, accurate, and regulatory compliant generation of reports. When you use a proper implementation strategy, however, you will have a better opportunity to facilitate the success of your practice as you minimize delays and increase your team’s satisfaction with your new system.
Considerations for an EHR implementation checklist for your new practice should include:
- Tailoring the system to support safe, high-quality patient care
- Ensuring contingency plans are established to address system downtimes
- Determining the care processes your EHR needs to support and then how the hardware and software should be set up to support those process in patient-friendly and practice-friendly ways
- Ensuring the technology properly supports safe, effective clinical processes
- Ensuring the technology complements efficient workflows.
The workflow is a critical consideration, from the first point of contact with a new patient. Your practice team should consider how your new EHR technology will handle generating new patient records, patient registration, and retrieval of information. Defining and mapping these processes may detect, mitigate, and prevent problems caused by duplicate records, patient mix-ups, and comingled records.
As you determine your practice goals and prepare your team for the new technology, add these items to your EHR checklist:
- Work with your clinical team to assess their comfort level with technology, including their understanding of computer usage and of the practice workflows. Discuss clinical needs with all members of the team. Schedule training on the EHR solution as well as on the process you will use to optimize its effectiveness for your patients and your practice.
- Educate your patients on the features they can take advantage of, such as accessing their own medical records and communicating with you and your team. Engaging patients in their care plan will help improve their health outcomes as they are able to use your EHR to view their records and clarify diagnoses and follow-up care instructions.
- Develop a realistic timeline for EHR implementation that includes training and testing. Share the timeline with all clinical team members, emphasizing the importance of actively participating in all activities in your EHR checklist.
- Work with your vendor to install the EHR system, migrate data if necessary, and train your staff. With Elation Health’s intuitive EHR solution, your team can learn its use and innovative features in as little as one hour. Elation’s team offers you one-on-one implementation support as well.
Ensure that you take advantage of the ongoing support available for optimizing your new EHR tool. At Elation, your success is our focus, so we make it easy for you to get help as you begin using your EHR in your new independent practice. you can contact us with a simple click of a button, by phone, or via email for 24/7 support.
