Self-assessment and planning

Readiness assessments: The process of evaluating, selecting and implementing an EMR system in your practice is a significant undertaking. It will take considerable effort and patience for every physician and staff member. It is important to understand how willing and interested the practice is in adopting an EMR, how thoughtfully the effort has been considered and how well the culture of the practice supports this major change. A Readiness Assessment will provide insight into whether the practice is positioned to succeed in implementing and maximizing the benefit of an EMR system without major cultural distress.

Ideally, a Readiness Assessment should be completed by both physicians and staff. You can recommend that the assessment remains anonymous to encourage open communication. Each question on the assessment should be reviewed for common themes across responses and/or significant variances in responses. Ultimately, the purpose is to identify potential pitfalls in the interest and ability of the organization to deal with the proposed EMR implementation.

Texas Medical Association and DOQ-IT have each created a sample Readiness Assessment that can be used to understand the state of your practice.

These links will take you off the AMA Web site. The AMA is not responsible for the content of other Web sites.

Texas Medical Association Readiness Assessment (Word, 75KB)
DOQ-IT Readiness Assessment

Workflow analysis and planning:

DOQ-IT has created material which can help you with work process redesign.

DOQ-IT has also created a matrix for assigning roles and duties to your staff for easy transition.

DOQ-IT has created a sample implementation plan template that includes some technical and workflow considerations.

AAFP also has some General Implementation Guidelines and Things to Think About Before Going Live.