Our team of experts has helped clients in many areas of healthcare develop successful conversion plans at every stage of their EMR Software implementation. Whether they were choosing a software, starting implementation, scanning files into the software, or pursuing process improvements, we were able to help them. We will help you ask the right questions to ensure you don’t spend more than you should, while fully utilizing the benefits of the software you’ve chosen.
If you are searching for EMR software:
- Has anyone you know used this software? You don’t want to buy the wrong software and spend that much money twice.
- Is this software specifically geared toward your industry and state? Document Management Systems can dramatically improve your compliance, or create a huge headache. If it doesn’t have the features you need, or doesn’t communicate with your State’s reimbursement portal, the cost of failure could be much higher than what you paid your software vendor.
- Do you have a plan? Every organization and software is unique. If you don’t have a plan, the implementation will be a total nightmare. We can help you develop a plan that will maximize your transition efficiency and the value you ultimately get out of your software.
If you’ve purchased EMR software:
- What are you going to scan in? Don’t scan records you’ll never need and double the cost of conversion. Buying your team software and a scanner without a plan for what you’re going to scan can easily double the cost of your conversion.
- How will you control implementation costs? The proposal by your EMR software vendor only covers their involvement – not the time and resources of your own team. If your overtime costs are ballooning, we can help.
- What happens when the EMR implementation team goes home? If you don’t have an internal team that manages process improvement and training, you’re asking for a coup from a staff that feels left out to dry.
If you’ve implemented EMR software:
- Are paper charts still circulating in your office? Don’t assume you’ve “gone digital” because you bought an EMR and gave your team a scanner. If you haven’t removed paper from the environment, the crutch remains, and staff members will not fully adopt the new system?
- Are you fully utilizing the data your EMR can produce to improve your internal processes?
- Are you printing out of your EMR or managing a separate paper record system? Doesn’t sound like you are done.
The SRS Hybrid Approach
In order to truly address the problem that accompanied the decision to add or change EHR systems, you must address the root problem. With our comprehensive document management approach, we seek to truly understand what records you have. We refer to this process as indexing. Our team, led by Client Services Manager Roy James, comes onsite and packs up the records you, sorts them at the file level based on their retention requirement so each box has the same requirement, and creates a file-level inventory with three indices to optimize search capabilities. Finally, we apply your retention policy to automate destruction of records that are eligible and to tell you how long the remaining records must be kept.
ECM System Integration
Similar to the process for EHR or EMR systems, businesses (or the business units within medical facilities) also oftentimes need help converting to an ECM system. Simply put, you cannot consider a massive scan project or migration to cloud storage without having chosen an Enterprise Content Management system. If so, you are missing much of the value in digitizing your processes and oftentimes are simply migrating the problem online without truly addressing the root issue. When properly implemented and adopted by an entire organization, Enterprise Content Management can reduce payroll and information management costs. Improperly used, however, it can add significant hidden costs and liability to your organization.
Our team of experts has worked with organizations in many industries to help them harness the power of a software that will improve their system without wasting money scanning things they’ll never need or duplicating physical processes with digital ones.
Departments that usually benefit from ECM Systems:
No matter where you are in your digital conversion, we can help.
Common pitfalls of digital conversion projects
For years, we have seen companies undertake expensive software projects that promise to solve all the problems. However, failures throughout the process can create issues that can lead to sunk costs, tons of overtime, and frustrated employees. Below, we details some of those pitfalls and the solutions SRS can help deliver to make your software conversion a success.
- Pitfall: The software underdelivers. Many software salespeople promise the moon to get you to sign on the dotted line. However, if it sounds too good to be true, it typically is. The most deluxe version never comes at the base model price. Surprise add-ons or other customization features can quickly make costs skyrocket!
- Solution: Read the fine print. Understand upfront if any migrations or integrations or third-party software are needed. Oftentimes, these are separate costs above and beyond the initial scope of work. Failure to fully understand the project can cause budgets to balloon and timelines to double.
- Problem: Lack of communication. Communication is often a cause of project failure. Business leaders who make decisions behind closed doors fail to properly communicate a software conversion to the staff or grossly underestimate the time, effort, and personnel required to properly execute a project. This results in frustration and resentment. Likewise, the failure of the designated project manager – or the lack of a designated project manager in the first place! – to communicate any hiccups along the way, including budget or timeline increases, can catch management off guard and create tension.
- Solution: Open communication channels. In the run-up to a big change, create project kickoff event to share the reasons behind the change with key stakeholders and players and properly communicate the impact it will have on their function within the organization. Similarly, take time to truly understand the pain points with all end users before you implement and ensure those are taken into consideration. Set up regular check-in meetings with project managers and management to check on status and budget.
- Problem: Failure to adopt. Failure to adopt can usually be traced back to two culprits: inadequate training and the unwillingness to remove the crutch of the old system.
- Solution: Properly train, then remove the crutch. Budget for training before the project begins. Training needs to be adequate and ongoing to work out any kinks once the software is live. To revisit the “read the fine print” point of #1, ensure that adequate training with the software developers is budgeted in the beginning. And ensure your team – including all users – has time with them firsthand. Similarly, create power users within the organization who can champion the software with their colleagues. Then remove the crutch of the old system. This will force adoption from the staff. If the training has been adequate and successful, however, removing the old crutch should be less painful.