Electronic Health Records For Dummies

Identifying goals for a specific EHR implementation

If you have some overall organizational goals, think about how EHR implementation fits into that picture and set some specific goals for the process. Believe it or not, you really do have to ask, “Why are we doing this?” The answers may seem obvious (eventually, you will have to use EHR, for example), but if you think about the question in terms of what outcomes you want, the answers provide much stronger clarity. We all do things because we have to from time to time, but doing them usually makes more sense when we focus on the benefits.

Then fit your organizational goals to your EHR goals. Take a second look at the values that you’ve identified and brainstorm EHR goals in light of them. You can create a simple matrix (using your favorite spreadsheet software) that joins organizational goals with EHR goals. See Table 4-1 for an example.

Table 4-1 Goal Matrix Example
Organizational Goal	EHR Goal
Communicate better with patients	Secure messaging, patient portal, and PHR features
Streamline intake process	Scan insurance info directly into records and print demographic info from EHR for verification
Have better knowledge of patient prescription issues	Access medication history electronically and implement drug interaction/allergy notifications
Create more opportunities for patient feedback	User-friendly interface to share with patients
Improve billing accuracy	Automated coding features