Conducting an evaluation of EMR systems can be a real challenge: it’s one of the most significant purchases you can make for your practice, and there are hundreds – maybe thousands – of different packages to choose from.

One reason there are so many different EMR systems out there is that many are targeted towards specific types of practices: small family practices have considerably different needs than large hospital staffs, as do orthopedic practices and dentists. Try to find software that matches your specialty and office size.

The next step in this tactic is to see what practices like yours are choosing. Find offices similar to yours and visit their offices to see their medical records filing systems in action. Just seeing the system isn’t enough, though: trying the software for yourself is an essential part of any EMR system evaluation. Many vendors allow you to log in to a sample account or will send you a sample CD to let you use the software – take advantage of these opportunities. Have all the interested parties from your practice go through their most common activities to get a sense of how easy the software is to use – watching “canned” demos does not give you the same in-depth look at the products.

Be sure to look for HIPAA compliance as part of your evaluation. The far-reaching Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act has more impact on billing and insurance matters, which are usually handled by a practice management system instead of an EMR system. However, there are strict security rules that apply to any patient data. Most EMR systems will meet HIPAA requirements, but you should still make the vendor provide details on how it does so.

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