Unfortunately,
you need to protect your practice and your patients against a failing EHR. Some recent examples demonstrate the
vulnerability of any practice to a failing EHR:
An EHR cloud service added customers which
resulted in substantial delays for the physicians in the practice.
A new version of an EHR resulted in thousands
of records disappearing from the patient database.
Physicians discovered that old patient plans
were being printed as the current visit plans due to a program error.
Support from the vendor failed due to a
shortage of staff, too many customers, or problems with the software.
With
over 1,000 Certified EHRs and more on the way, practices face a dizzying array
of EHR product options and vendors. As a
practical matter, not all of these products will be successful. Indeed, physician practices need to seriously
monitor their vendors and communicate with vendors on any concerns that may
evolve with use of their product. Your
practice needs to monitor the stability of your EHR product and the vendor that
is behind the EHR.
If
you practice does encounter serious EHR problems, you need to protect your
patient’s medical records and preserve the integrity of patient care. When encountering an EHR reliability problem, practices need to
undertake a protection and recovery effort.
Protect Records - Protection activities may range from holding
a backup from your backup rotation to moving documentation to paper
charts. For example, one practice was
using an EHR that stopped correctly generating the exam notes. The practice moved their chart back to paper
since their EHR had become error prone and unreliable.
Remediation - The remediation effort should include
assessing the damage and trying to recover information. For example, the
practice should assess the reliability of the current information and make sure
that they recover missing information from patients as they see patients going
forward. You may also be able to gather relevant information from your
billing system, and other parties such as labs, hospitals, etc. For example, a pediatric practice may recover
some immunization information from the billing system or immunization registry.
Document Due Diligence - The practice should document EHR problems
with appropriate letters and paperwork to EHR vendors to demonstrate due
diligence in trying to protect your patient records. In too many cases,
practices accept EHR vendor explanations for problems without communicating the
impact on their organization or records. Failure to document the problem
and the practice response could cause operational problems and a variety of
legal issues.
The best defense against
a failing EHHR is to monitor the performance and well being of the EHR that you
use and your vendor. Make sure that any
changes to management or software is understood and evaluated to verify the continuing
reliability and viability of your EHR.
For example, if a vendor is moving their EHR offering to a cloud
product, then you need to seriously evaluate the vendor commitment to your
current inhouse system.
In most cases, practices with failing EHRs
encountered early warning signs, but failed to act. You owe it to your practice and your patients
to monitor the health of your EHR and develop a go forward strategy before you
are caught in a difficult situation with a failing product or vendor.
For additional strategies to cope with EHR problems, click here.
To analyze, plan and design a recovery from your problems with your EHR, contact Sterling Solutions at (800)967-3028 or click here.
For additional strategies to cope with EHR problems, click here.
To analyze, plan and design a recovery from your problems with your EHR, contact Sterling Solutions at (800)967-3028 or click here.
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