You are investing significant time, money, and resources to ensure the success of your behavioral health EHR implementation. Failure is not an option.
The following best practices will help you plan and manage your electronic health records (EHR) implementation process to ensure its success:
Set goals
Before you purchase an EHR, set clear, achievable goals for after your new EHR solution goes live. Goals for your new system may include:
✓ Universal usage of the new EHR system.
✓ Improving clinical document management.
✓ Providing better access to data across the entire organization.
✓ Improving workflows from client-intake to claims submission and payment.
✓ Improving revenue cycle, clinical, and productivity metrics.
Once you have goals in place, create benchmarks for each one.
Prepare your plan
Create a thorough implementation roadmap beginning with a workflow analysis. Take the time to document each step in your workflows and analyze for improvements.
Determine the training necessary for every user. Training plans may vary by user access, so it is important to conduct a thorough review and align training to job function.
When migrating data from an existing system to the new EHR solution, make sure to backup all data first. A contingency plan will help you think through how to adapt if problems occur during migration.
Manage change
Change is easier when you have a great implementation team comprising clinicians and staff at all levels to champion your new EHR solution and engage others in the process.
Part of managing change is providing clear, transparent communication about each phase of the implementation. Ready your organization and ensure all parties are on the same page of what the objectives are. Give clinicians, staff, and others enough information to form a visual picture of what is changing, why the change is necessary, and the steps necessary to make it happen.
Your implementation team must also manage the vendor/agency relationship. Make sure individuals feel their concerns and ideas are heard, and the EHR vendor responds in a clear and concise manner.
Finally, change means a cultural shift in your agency. Pay particular attention to staff and clinician’s reactions to make sure they’re engaged and on board with your new culture of change.
During implementation
Take this opportunity to analyze your workflows against the EHR’s functionality and make any changes necessary to optimize the use of your new system. Matching your workflows to your new EHR will help mitigate any setbacks once you go live.
After your go-live date
Once your new EHR solution goes live, monitor how employees are using the system. Assign a point person willing to coordinate requests/changes between users and the vendor.
Conclusion
Best practices are time-tested strategies on which you can rely. The best practices included above will point you in the right direction to achieve a successful EHR implementation.
If you’d like more information, Remarkable Health has a comprehensive guide titled Behavioral Health EHR Implementation Roadmap (link) that offers sound advice for a successful EHR implementation.
Download your free copy today.
The Remarkable Health difference
Remarkable Health’s CT|One is a fully integrated behavioral health EHR solution offering practice management best practices through operational functionality and reporting.
Our implementation program puts your agency in control. With a CT|One implementation you get:
- ✓ A formal project plan for each program we set up and establish.
- ✓ Timelines and expectations.
- ✓ A project manager and project team dedicated to your implementation.
- ✓ Onsite and remote training capabilities.
- ✓ System setup and configuration.
- ✓ Walk-throughs and documentation to help train in real-time and as you onboard new users.
Request a demo today to discover the power of an EHR solution designed specifically for behavioral health agencies.
