Education > EHR Resources > EHR Implementation

The most important step in the early stages of selecting an EHR is to determine your personal and practice readiness to adopt a system. Every practice has to go through a transformative change when implementing an EHR. Try and do as much as possible in advance of implementation, as this will significantly reduce potential issues that may arise through selection and implementation.

The following case studies record the experiences of real practices that went through EHR implementation. You may benefit initially from quickly reading through these reports to gain a better understanding of the challenges and benefits of electronic health records. (Source – HIMSS)

• North Fulton Family Medicine (Cumming, GA)
• Greenhouse Internists (Philadelphia, PA)
• Evans Medical Group (Augusta, GA)
• Murray Hill Internal Medicine (New York, NY)

Click here to download a selection of case studies developed by the HIMSS Electronic Health Records Association (EHRA) - "The Value of Electronic Health Records"

Visit the HIMSS Davies Awards website

Click here to download a white paper entitled "A Beginner’s Guide to Selecting an EHR - A step-by-step guide to help you select and purchase an EHR that is right for your practice." Developed by Welch Allyn.

One of the most important steps in the implementation of an EHR is a thorough practice workflow assessment.

Step 1: Defining and Planning intended workflow changes (mapping current processes, mapping new processes, planning the sequence of changes based on what matters most).

Step 2: Deciding (with your Vendor) which actual workflow changes must be conducted.

Step 3: Instituting additional changes that can be implemented gradually and sequentially over a period of years to fully exploit the functions and features of the EHR, including potential opportunities for change/improvement not originally apparent.

Implementation Resources

• ACP - Center for Practice Improvement and Innovation has published a guide to assist with workflow planning for EHR implementation
• The Texas Medical Association (TMA) with the support of the Physicians Foundation published an Electronic Medical Record Implementation Guide entitled - The Link to a Better Future, 2nd Edition. Download a copy here 
  (Provided with permission of the Texas Medical Association)

Related Podcast:

• Selecting and Implementing an EHR in a Small Medical Practice 
  Guest: Dr. Jacqueline Fincher, Managing Partner, McDuffie Medical Associates, a 4 physician practice in Thomson, Georgia.

Related Blog Article:

• April 10, 2012: Software as a Service (SaaS) and Application Service Providers (ASP) — What You Need to Know