Find an EHR Vendor Who Is Your Partner (And Remember Your 3 R’s)

You have an incentive to not only find the right EHR software for your practice, but the right vendor. You will be working with them closely (hopefully for a long time) so do not underestimate the strain a bad relationship can put on your practice. As we touched on in the last blog[link text to blog], the relationship that you have with your vendor is incredibly important for implementation and long-term success with your new EHR technology. Sadly, the 2016 Physicians Practice Technology Survey showed that over 44% of healthcare workers surveyed would not recommend their EHR vendor.

The best EHR company will be a business partner for your practice, working to optimize your practice from many angles – technology, workflows, marketing and more. While it is great to work with a vendor on multiple levels for optimized interoperability, make sure you investigate pricing and know what you need. A great company will offer a demo or even a trial period for the product, plus truly look at how to optimize your practice so that they can recommend potential options for you.

Three Things to Look For In an EHR Vendor are:

Responsiveness

The good way to gauge a vendor is to pay attention to how they treat you during the sales process. Are they attentive? Responsive? Respectful? Transparent? These traits generally do not improve from your first impression. You do not want to have to go digging for information, harass the vendor to answer questions, or wait to hear back.

Reputation

You should also take a look at what other practices similar to yours are saying about the EHR and vendor. This could come through checking online reviews or through word of mouth. You can even ask your salesman to provide you with testimonials.

Repeated complaints about the same issues and poor communication are both red flags. Even if the system may seem like a good fit, if the relationship always seems to turn sour, the EHR may not actually work out for you.

Research and Development

Lastly, when choosing a vendor, see if they are a company that improves and changes their solution to keep up with the fast rate of change in medical technology and best practices. You do not want to be stuck in a contract where 2 years down the line you could be using outdated technology. This ability to change tends to be a major differentiator between vendors which you can use to your advantage.

Download our guide for more detailed information on how to shop for your best EHR.

^[1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2018/04/23/who-really-owns-your-health-data/#10a0bedf6d62

^[2] http://imaging.ubmmedica.com/all/editorial/physicianspractice/pdfs/PDFTechSurvey16.pdf