The purpose of this paper is to identify considerations in Electronic Health Record (EHR) selection for the plastic surgery practice. While EHR uptake has increased in the United States due to Meaningful Use Incentives,1 many of the system advancements have been geared toward the primary care practice, and not surgical subspecialties. This case study reports on experience with EHR and practice management system selection for a private practice surgery practice. Methods include documentation of selection criteria and experience with vendor demonstrations.
The results point to the importance of identifying physician and staff system needs prior to contacting vendors. Identifying needs can inform development of checklists for system functionality during vendor demonstrations. Items to include on the checklist include integration of administrative and clinical workflows, and integration with other systems. Functionality specific to plastic surgery practices include ease of uploading and annotating pictures, management of inventory, documentation of skincare needs and purchase history, and integration with practice management software for insurance and private billing. Other functionality needs include patient engagement and provision of relevant patient education materials.
This paper will report on system selection experience from identifying EHR vendors through implementation and outline lessons learned and best practices. Plastic surgeons, practice managers and other end-users will benefit from a more thorough understanding of their requirements for an EHR and practice management system, and identification and prioritization of criteria and consistent checklists and questions to guide vendor demonstration. Then selection can be made based on functionality and price.
Reference Citations:
1. Jamoom JA, Yang N, Hing E. Adoption of Certified Electronic Health Record Systems and Electronic Information Sharing in Physician Ofices: United States, 2013 and 2014. NCHS Data Brief No. 236, January 2016. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2016.