The Path to Paperless

Keeping Control of Your EMR Project

The proposal process and project management cycle are key.

By Peter J. Polack, MD, FACS

In last month's column I warned that EMR projects are often “hijacked” by vendors, consultants and even doctors who want to manage the project their way or not at all. In all these cases, the practice winds up with a system that does not suit its real needs.

This month, I'll highlight the proposal process and project management, two specific ways that an EMR implementation project can be shifted away from the real needs of the practice. I will explain how to guard against these types of hijacking.

Don't Accept Generic Proposals

Once you are ready to start evaluating systems, you are at the risk of dancing to someone else's tune unless you make EMR vendors respond to an RFI (request for information) and an RFP (request for proposal) that you create based on the needs of your own practice.

Simply asking for proposals means you have to do all the heavy lifting when you try to compare their proposals against one another.

For the RFI, make a table of the most important elements you are concerned about (wireless capability, multi-location, security features, ease of use, etc.), and give each a rating based on their importance, such as “must have” or “would like to have.” Within the “would like to have” category, you can further weight each item to come up with a score. Your RFI will help cull out the systems that you know up front won't meet your most basic needs.

The RFP is more robust, asking vendors about their depth of experience in project management, support, training and the system itself. What are their SLAs (service level agreements)? Do they have references? Are their staff members employees or contractors? Having all potential vendors answer in the same way will save you countless hours of review.

Understand Project Management

Project management hijack prevention requires you to focus on the project management lifecycle, especially the planning and implementation of your EMR. The best way to do that is to learn the basics of project management so that you understand the implications of any project decisions you will be asked to make.

The basics begin with developing a deep understanding of the most critical-to-success elements of an EMR project? If you don't have a context for some of the essential elements, you risk getting hijacked by a consultant or an EMR vendor's own project manager. And the plan that you sign off on could be missing critical success factors, either by design and omission, or by accident or incompetence on the part of your EMR implementation manager.

A second reason you need to know about project management comes during the negotiation and contracting steps for your practice's EMR purchase. Going into negotiations with a clear idea of what successful project management encompasses means you will ensure that all your real needs are covered before you sign any contract.

The final reason why you need to know about project management is to optimize long-term productivity and performance after the EMR system is implemented.

Forward-looking medical practices will always have an unending stream of projects to pursue. Your ability to better manage projects, evaluate project outcomes and prevent disasters begins with having some knowledge of basic project management. These competencies apply to managers, staff and contractors. OM

Peter J. Polack, MD, FACS, is co-managing partner for Ocala Eye, a multisubspecialty ophthalmology practice located in Ocala, Fla. He is also founder of Emedikon, an online practice management resource for physicians and administrators.