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Implementation of an EHR System: What does it look like?

What do you, the healthcare provider, need? As we have shown, with our previous blogs, articles, press releases, demos and any and all other written and/or verbal expression of words, our system and our organization is based around meeting and surpassing the needs and expectations of healthcare providers.

That’s why our implementation process starts with you. Your organization, how it operates now and how you want to operate in the future..

Usually, the implementation process consists of the health care practice looking for an off-the-shelf, “cost-effective” EHR system that meets at least a majority of their needs and buying it. The implementation itself starts when this off-the-shelf EHR system is imposed onto that health care practice.

Disadvantages of issues caused by off-the-shelf EHR systems:

• A major cutback, or complete stand still, in productivity while learning the system. With an off-the-shelf EHR system, you are not getting the processes and tools you need, you are getting the processes and tools the system has. This means that the health care providers and other employees of that practice would have to shift through and try to understand and differentiate between what is important and relevant to their processes and workflow and what is not relevant to them. While they most likely will eventually learn the difference, and the processes and workflow will become easier to go through, it is still an unnecessary burden to deal with, as well as a waste of time, which could’ve been used to treat more patients(lost revenue), and a potential risk factor for patient health and privacy.
• It will create long term problems. Since the system is not intuitive, when new users are introduced to it, they will either need to be trained by someone(a recurring prospective cost that can be avoided), or they will have to try and learn it by themselves, which could take a long time, and there is also the fear and worry that they might have not really grasped the system well. The systems limited capacity to follow anything other than its own workflow will be a problem for patient-doctor encounters; this is due to: a.) the provider having to split his time between the patient and filling out their forms, which creates the risk of important information having been missed, and b.) filling out the EHR forms taking up time that could’ve gone towards seeing more patients.
• Lack of interoperability. This does not apply to all other EHR systems, but it does apply to enough that you should be cautious. If an EHR has this issue, it means that transferring data safely and securely to systems of your choice would not be possible easily. This also means that transferring data safely and securely to, or through, 3rd party vendors(ex: clearinghouses) of your choice, would not be possible. Instead, you would only be able to work with 3rd party vendors who have an existing relationship with the EHR.

At blueEHR, we have a different idea about implementation. Implementation can arguably be called the most crucial part of the EHR buying process. Sure, you could buy the best EHR in the world, but if it is poorly implemented and no one knows how to use it, it is useless for the practice. In the same vein, you could have a system implemented perfectly and it could be easy to learn, but if the EHR is lacking, then what’s the point?

Implementation is like a marriage. So before we get to that step, we make sure that we are the right fit. ZH Healthcare was founded on the idea that everyone deserves affordable care; we are not just worried about making a buck. If we work with someone, it’s because we think that we can make a positive difference.

We do this by understanding the scope of practice. We discuss your current and future strategy. After this, we give you our team lead, with whom you will interact the most and who will also learn about the specifics that are wanted for the system. This includes your organizations needs, pain points, what you like now, what you don’t like, etc. We never look at it in the context of our system. We look at what you need. Once we have a good grasp on your needs and expectations, THEN we look at what we have out of the box, what requires configuration, what requires customization, etc. That way, you, and each client we work with, gets a system that is tailor made and one that doesn’t shoe horn your organization into inefficient practices OR just plain doesn’t work.

During this time, when the system is being built, our developers and testers persistently check the system to see if there are any errors or issues. We are adamant about making sure that there will not be any issues for you after implementation.

Once the system is ready to be implemented, we send you our expert team, who will guide you on how to maximize the effectiveness of your new EHR system. Due to the nature of our system, it is intuitively picked up; but if there are any questions or concerns, our team will instantly work with you to address them. Our endgame is making sure that you don’t feel like you are renting a product; but that you feel at ease with your system and that it is integrated into your practice.

From this point on, it will be smooth sailing. But, if you ever were to have any questions/complaints/compliments, it’s easy, just call us. In the case of a late night emergency, we have a 24/7 hotline that will assist you. We have your back. We will do our part perfectly, because we know how many people rely on you to do yours.
Contact us, we want to help you.