Choosing the right EMR for your practice is difficult and it’s easy to get overwhelmed with the choices. Here are 10 questions to ask when looking for the perfect EMR.
As busy professionals, nurse practitioners and other clinicians are looking for ways to be efficient in their practice, while still attending to the needs of our patients. At the same time, we don’t want to spend hours at the end of the day documenting. All of us are asking which is the best electronic medical record system (EMR) to get for their practice.
There are literally hundreds of EMRs to choose from. Unfortunately, there is not one single EMR that I am aware of that does everything the way we each want it. Some of us want less clicking. Others want streamlined e-prescribing and some want better document management. I think we’d all agree that the number o
ne thing healthcare providers want is a system that works and does not slow us down.
So just how do we find the best EMR for the way we work? Since we can all agree there is no such thing as a perfect 10 in the EMR world, how can you look for a 7, 8 or 9?
Before you start your quest, make a list of everything that is important to you – both the positives (what you’d like) and the negatives (what you want to avoid). While not in the list below, carefully consider your budget – both in dollars and in time. And don’t forget to look at usability, not just for you and the providers you work with, but also your office staff and clinical support assistants.
The Questions
Here is a list of things (in no particular order) you may wish to consider when you are looking for an EMR. (To get additional questions, see below).
- Is it user-friendly…for you, not the sales representative? See if you can get your hands on it for more than a guided demo. Is it intuitive for the way you work? Are you able to access different parts of the record with ease. Too much typing? Too many clicks?
- How easy are the templates to customize to your practice? Are there examples from which to choose from? Can you tweak those?
- How are you able to access the system? Desktop? Laptop? Tablet? Smartphone? Is the system workable on all devices?
- What integrations are present? Is there a built-in practice management/billing module? Can you use it with a third party billing system? How easy is it for your billers to get access to the records for billing and research purposes?
- Are you able to connect the system with any of your patient monitoring systems such as blood pressure, EKGs and the like?
- How are documents handled? Will you need to scan and separately upload? What about downloading? What about exporting patient records?
- Are you able to make referrals, send the necessary chart notes, labs and other test to the specialist’s? Or will you need to print everything out and fax it (the old fashion way) to the specialists.
- What are all the cost associated with the software? Initial cost? Ongoing maintenance? Training? Updates?
- What if you decide to leave? How will your records be exported and then imported into another system? Will your data be in a usable form?
- What’s in your contract? Fees? Termination? Problems? Troubleshooting? Guarantees for uptime?
These are just a few of the questions you’ll want to ask and explore when you are considering an EMR system. If at all possible, talk with other users. Find out where others are having problems and how they have been able to overcome them. Better yet, see if you can visit their office and see the system in action. Above all, get some hands-on time before you commit to the system. You’ll be glad you did.
Want even more questions to consider?
Your Turn:
How did you choose your EMR? What were your most important considerations? Most of all, is your EMR working for you?