Written by Stevie Davidson Friday, 07 May 2010 00:47

As you can imagine we have been quite busy here at HIC with providers, practice managers, hospitals, surgery centers, and hospitals reaching out about EHR selection and implementation, as well as hospital to community connect projects. 

I have been doing this for a long time, and have seen more than I would like to admit.  However, this push to adopt is creating a further opportunity for physicians to fail.  Healthcare providers and front-line staff are still so unclear on best practices for selecting, contracting, and implementing EHR technology. As a result, Many EHR vendors are selling with no regard for whether they fail or not.  There are some really good sales people that I deal with, and some have a lack of ethics that is very disheartening.

With ARRA/HITECH in place, competition is high, certification is in limbo, and physicians are in a panic about getting that first 2011 meaningful use payment.  They are just signing on the dotted line, making a huge investment that most can't even afford, and committing financial suicide.

I find myself struggling with people who are all of a sudden overnight experts in the area of EHR consulting.  It is very frustrating how making a quick sale prevails over work ethic and not ever self-advancing at the expense of others. As a die hard physician advocate, and all health care professionals, I am asking you to please stop listening to these people.  Also, you have other people of influence in different sectors of healthcare that promote them for the sake of getting business referrals in return with no regard for the impact of the end-user.  

It is a reality, that these individuals are doing on the job training at the risk of the client for their own self interests. It is amazing what money and good marketing can buy you.  Not to mention, the affiliates that promote them knowing they don't know what they are doing or have experience doing it!

So here are my takeaways..providers and staff, please stop trying to do this yourself, and stop listening to people who have no real experience with how to protect, transform, and implement EHR technology.  Just because they are IT professionals, doesn't mean they have the knowledge about transforming your practice and guiding you through a successful implementation.  IT is a broad industry, and the honorable professionals stick with what they know, their core business, and do not put the health of a business and the safety of the patients at risk.

Lastly, you get what you pay for.  Do your homework and get proof before you purchase.  Who and what have they implemented, and get their client info to do a reference check.  If they haven't done at least 10 of these from soup to nuts, you need to walk away!  If you had to write a prescription for EHR adoption, using a qualified EHR expert is the check box for "DO NOT SUBSTITUTE".  Otherwise, you get a generic version, and the flux of the main ingredient is not worth the risk of your business health.

Until next time.....Stevie