Precise electronic health records can be the deciding factor between life and death. Additionally, sifting through the various features of EMR/EHR can be immensely tiring. EMR and EHR software accumulate and standardize the data required for overseeing the patient’s treatment and medical records. As a result, selecting the proper system based on your particular EMH/EHR requirements is crucial.

Needs Analysis

You need to ask yourself some questions if you want to ascertain what your practice requires from an EHR. You will have to consider various issues before purchasing a system, and taking into account these questions beforehand will help refine your proposal request and ensure that you find a suitable solution for your medical software requirements. Some important questions include:

• Do you need to access the system on the desktop, mobile, or both?
• Does the system have to interface with different software?
• Who will use the system, and how many users?
• What are your objectives for using an EHR?

Functional Requirements

EHR software functional requirements mean the capabilities at the system’s core. Most software but not all provide some version of such capabilities. As such, it’s critical that you know precisely what your practice needs, and when you first conduct research, you must figure out what that particular solution offers.

Technical Requirements

You must also focus on technical requirements, including deployment, data management, performance reporting, and security certification. When you purchase EHR, data security and medical compliance are crucial. Most will be predominantly HIPAA compliant and feature ICD-10 support. Some will be ONC-ATB compliant, while others will be CCHIT certified.

You must also know whether the EHR can be integrated with other softwares. If you’re operating a hospital or large multi-location practice, can this EHR integrate with various software? What about billing software? Determining the interoperability capabilities, you require beforehand ensures practice-wide implementation.

• Clinical Exchange Document Data Exporting/Importing
• APIs
• E-Signature
• Instant message and chat options
• Implementation services
• Deployment environment
• Mobile web app
• ICD-10 support
• ONC-ATCB
• Document storage and upload

System Selection

After you’ve ascertained your system needs, you can create an RFP to send to the sellers who offer the features you’re looking for. Based on the data you’ve received, you can make a shortlist and compare the offerings. When you have your list of best-fit platforms, you can then request demos and a personalized price quote. Try out the system to figure out whether the interface works for you or not.

Conclusion

With the information above, you’ll be able to purchase the right system and continue delivering exceptional care and service to your patients.