Every practice has different workflows, structures, and expectations for how its electronic health record (EHR) should function. What works for one practice may not work for another — and with the number of solutions on the market, finding the right one can be a challenge.
According to healthcare technology news site SearchHealthIT, most providers prefer a solution that’s customizable, user-friendly, and certified by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC). Their EHR evaluation checklists often include mobile access, workflow automation, document management, and more.
Although there’s no universal way to compare EHRs, you may want to ask these questions.
Does the EHR fit your specialty?
Whether you specialize in primary care, pediatrics, or another area of medicine, your practice will require certain functions of its EHR. A primary care practice, for example, may see patients with a variety of conditions, whereas an OB-GYN practice has its own specific tests and exams. Your EHR must meet the needs of your specialty.
What are the EHR’s reporting capabilities?
Your EHR should allow you to document and report data for value-based government incentive programs. Related to this, the ONC maintains standards for health information technology. To be ONC Health IT-certified — and encouraged or required for government programs — a solution must meet certain standards, implementation specifications, and certification criteria. Greenway’s EHR solutions are 2015 ONC Health IT-certified.
“The ease in adding and creating forms has made the needed documentation for MSSP and MIPS to be easily achieved by our providers,” said Mary Fransko, LPN, Clinical Supervisor with Cumberland Internal Medicine, PA.
Will the EHR vendor guide you through implementation and training?
Implementing a new EHR will require attention and resources, but it shouldn’t be an ordeal. Ideally, your vendor will provide foundational training, ongoing communication, and customer support. To help shorten the learning curve, Greenway Health offers Greenway Go-Live, a personalized approach to implementation that provides access to an onboarding team for the first 90 days after a practice goes live.
Does the vendor offer reliable support?
Make sure your EHR vendor has a support staff in place to answer your questions and keep you moving. Greenway’s Customer Support team provides quick answers to EHR questions, along with ongoing support, based 100% in the United States.
“I depend on the training that Greenway provides because we’re dealing with higher turnover than most FQHCs … that’s most likely due to our location, in northern Wisconsin.” said Emily Hallstrom, Physician Assistant with Peter Christensen Health Center. “The support is always helpful and fast.”
Is interoperability a priority?
Is the EHR capable of sharing information with different EHR systems, and is interoperability a priority for the vendor? Greenway, for example, is part of the CommonWell Health Alliance, a nonprofit dedicated to a vendor-neutral platform for health data exchange.
“Interoperability is all of these computer systems we’re trying to make work, speaking the same language and improving our care of our patients,” said Dr. Elizabeth Broderick of Children’s Clinic, Ltd.
Other considerations
Here are a few additional EHR evaluation checklist items worth considering.
- Clinical alerts
- Data analytics
- Electronic prescribing
- Integrated billing
- Patient portals
- Security protocols
- Simplified scheduling
- Speech-to-text capabilities
- Template libraries
Greenway’s Intergy solution offers these and other capabilities. Interested in learning more? Get a quote today.
For more information, CLICK HERE to schedule a conversation with a Greenway representative. Or watch our 3-minute overview video HERE.
