Find the right EHR for your practice

Physicians are frustrated with their current electronic health record (EHR) system–58% of doctors surveyed described their EHR as “hard to use,” according to a 2015 Accenture report. With the evolving marketplace, switching EHRs may become increasingly commonplace as some systems are discontinued and others prove unable to meet future needs for information exchange, patient engagement, and data analytics. At the same time, providers must understand their role in an EHR’s success or failure and be willing to take steps to ensure the best possible outcome.

Moving to a new EHR also is fraught with stresses ranging from the cost of implementation and transferring data to the learning curve associated with a replacement system. Still, many practices are making the switch successfully. If you believe it is time for your practice to make a move, here’s what to consider to ensure your next EHR is a worthwhile investment.

Why do you want to switch? Answering that question is the first step in determining whether you will be happy with your new system. If you are upgrading your system to add functionality or because your current system does not allow you to achieve meaningful use (MU), you are more likely to find a switch worthwhile than if your motivation is to boost productivity, decrease costs or eliminate technical problems.

Related:EHR's broken promise

Melissa Lucarelli, MD, a family practice physician in Randolph, Wisconsin, and a member of the Medical Economics editorial advisory board, recently switched to a new vendor after losing confidence that she could meet meaningful use stage 2 (MU2) requirements with her previous EHR, which had made attestation cumbersome.

“With meaningful use stage 2, there were a lot of extra clicks, and creating encounters and not charging for them and deleting them just so you could get the data in there,” she said. “With meaningful use stage 2 attestation and ICD-10 happening this year, I wasn’t comfortable they were ready to go.”

Lucarelli’s first EHR initially was provided for free, but when the time came to become a paying customer, she knew the product’s shortfalls remained too numerous to ignore. When searching for a replacement, Lucarelli considered only ambulatory products for one to 10 physician practices rated “best in class” by KLAS Research and others. She accepted the fact her monthly costs would increase, but felt the money would be well spent.

 

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