According to a report of 2015, around 83% of healthcare providers are using a fully functional EMR and around 40% practitioners are looking to switch their EMR system. Thus, it clearly indicates that quite a large number of healthcare practitioners are not satisfied with their existing system and are looking to switch. Using the right system improves patient outcomes and saves time and money of healthcare practice. However, purchasing and installing a new system requires lot of time and research. The best EMR software perfectly fits in your practice and increase efficiency but not so good software will interrupt your workflow and cause irritation.
Some of the factors that must be considered while choosing the best EMR
Approximately around 500 vendors are offering EMR systems and it is quite common for the healthcare practitioners to get overwhelmed while choosing the right software. Every practitioner has specific requirements and he/she tries to narrow down the list of preliminary EMR vendors depending upon their needs and considering the following criteria:
- Analyze your Budget – Though purchasing and implementing EMR software into your practice is a costly affair, still the benefits of the system outweigh the cost incurred into it and help your clinic save money in the long run. In addition, with the initial cost of the EMR, you also have to bear the cost of hardware, implementation, training and maintenance cost.
- Create a list of your Requirements – It is vital to make a list of your requirements according to the needs of your practice. It is important to involve the viewpoint of every physician and staff of your clinic while preparing the list of requirements to ensure that all the aspects of the practice have been considered. The person preparing the list need to have good understanding of the medical requirements and should possess leadership skill. The selected EMR software should be such that it compliments your workflow instead of causing hindrance.
- Choose Specialty specific EMR System – EMR software is designed specifically for a particular specialty and it is customized to deal with the unique characteristics of that specialty. Therefore, it is vital for the healthcare provider to choose the EMR software that is specifically designed for their specialty. An inappropriate selection of the Electronic medical records software will lead to make adjustments in order to use it and thus it will tremendously affect your practice workflow.
- Consider certified EMR System only - All healthcare providers who make meaningful use of EMR system are entitled of federal EHR incentives payments under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. In order to receive this incentive they need to use EMR system accredited by a proper certification authority. There are several stages to the meaningful use of the system and the healthcare providers need to meet all in order to qualify for the incentive payments.
Considering all these factors while selecting an EMR system will help healthcare professionals in selecting the right software that will perfectly fit in their practice and increase their efficiency.
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