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E M R
R E A D E R
S U R V E Y
and a cloud-based system. So how do you make sure you get what
you want?
Making the right decision
It's imperative that you shop around and not settle on the first system
you see. Even if you end up with that one, it's not time wasted — it's
confirmation you're doing the right thing. Your IT department or hired
consultant (and you really should have one for a project like this)
should have a strong sense of your wants and needs, and should provide input based on those.
Think expansion: Don't choose a system that limits you to your
current activities. Someday, you might want to be able to attach
surgical video to the electronic patient chart, for example. On the
flipside, you want to be able to exclude portals that go in too many
directions, making the system user-unfriendly, which usually
results in staff not taking advantage of your EMR's good points.
You should be able to use those portals if you need them in the
future, but turn them off in the meantime.
Approach software demos with a critical eye. A system might look
great during the demo, but won't do, in practice, what your facility
actually needs. For example, one system might not be able to expand
or populate information you want in the electronic record, another
might come with too many features, ones that will slow down everyday use. Demos and their accompanying pitches have been fine-tuned
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O U T PAT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E | F E B R U A R Y 2013
