How to Build Your EHR Implementation Checklist

EMR Implementation Planning Process

Are you looking to implement a new EHR at your practice? (If you are reading this right now, we are willing to bet that you are.) If this is true of you and your practice, know that this process requires a lot of planning, dedication, and patience.

Considering you are reading a blog about creating an implementation checklist, you are dedicated to planning out a step-by-step process to successfully implement an EHR solution within your organization. We can help make this process as smooth as possible.

The MOST important step of building an EHR Implementation checklist is actually building the checklist! (Who knew!)

Let’s delve into the checklist steps…

1. Implementation team
   1. Who all needs to be involved in the process?
      1. This first step should include members of your team that are vital to the implementation process. These individuals can be project managers, office managers, physicians, “Super Users,” or any other staff member who will play a large role in system utilization.
2. Define the budget & outline potential costs
   1. What do you expect to spend and what budget limitations exist for the project?
      1. These costs will include items such as hardware and network upgrades for your system or your new EHR system, potential overtime needed to pay the staff implementing the software, loss of productivity during office hours, and more.
3. Schedule implementation
   1. Refrain from scheduling until after checklist is completed.
      1. While step three is a VERY important step in the overall checklist process, it is important to figure out the rest of the checklist details before slotting an implementation date.

   

4. Migration of data
   1. What steps need to be taken to retrieve or integrate data into your new system?
      1. As you can guess, if your practice is moving from paper charts into a fully automated system, the migration of data will take longer. It is important to account for this when creating your checklist. Other processes that will need to be thought of during this phase include: data verification, cleanup, EHR database setup, legacy data mapping, and more.
5. User training program
   1. Creating a user training guide is a must – your vendor may have one for you.
      1. This enables your staff to easily work through the new system once it is fully implemented. It also provides a guide for them to reference once they are fully enveloped in the system. At this stage, “Super Users,” or individuals who will champion the product at the office, should be designated and introduced to staff.
6. Define “Go-Live” date and other activities
   1. What has to happen for go-live to happen on your scheduled do-live date?
      1. The “Go-Live” date is a very important date for your practice and should be planned out and planned out well. This may very well define how your practice feels about the system overall. In this stage, you will delve into details for pre- and post-go-live testing, communication to patients for downtime, staff scheduling, and more.
7. Establish ways to evaluate success or failure of implementation process
   1. In what ways is the system successful, or in what ways has it failed?
      1. After the implementation process has concluded, it is ESSENTIAL for you to establish whether or not the overall process/system have led to success or failure for your practice. This can be evaluated based on profitability, efficiency, quality of care, and user adoption.

Now, the list above is a very condensed version of an EHR checklist. It is a skeleton of an EHR implementation checklist and how a practice should move throughout an implementation project. For more details regarding EHR Implementation, please stay tuned for our full eBook on creating an EHR implementation checklist.

Are you looking for a new EHR vendor? If you are, we can help. Visit us at micromd.com or call us at 800-624-8832.