5 Great Tips for EMR Implementation

When converting your old paper records to a more efficient electronic medical records system, decide exactly what will be transferred and how. Some successful practices used the patient’s paper chart for the first visit and let the provider flag the documents they want scanned into the electronic patient chart. This eliminates time wasted scanning and searching through unnecessary files to find relevant information regarding the patient. Using an EMR system, staff can also proactively prepopulate the patient’s record with current medications, problems, past medical history, and much more saving the doctor precious time when evaluating patients.

When converting your old paper charts and documents over to your new EMR system, it is necessary to consider the amount of scanning that will be involved. Select a scanner that will allow you or your staff to scan multiple documents at a time.

If your new EMR system does not have user friendly templates and system customization, it will slow your provider down considerably. Be sure to select a user friendly system that can be customized to adapt to your practice’s needs.

Make sure you have the ability to modify templates, provider information, etc. independently of your software vendor. If you have to rely on your software vendor to make these changes for you, your implementation time frame will be affected.

Your EMR should work with your practice and not against it. Choose a system that is flexible and can be customized to adapt to your practice.