Purchasing and implementing an EHR system is a big decision. The right EHR can have a tremendous positive effect on every area of your practice.

There are many choices when it comes to choosing an EHR, and knowing some basic information about what to look for will make your decision much easier.

For over 20 years, the makers of PracticeStudio have been not only covering the basics, but far exceeding industry standards for premium, integrated EHR systems. The following are key questions to ask when researching EHRs, along with reasons why PracticeStudio is such a powerful EHR solution.

1. Is it a Complete EHR?

EHR systems can be either complete or modular. Complete EHRs present you with all of the features required to provide your patients with quality care as well as allowing you to meet government healthcare requirements. EHR modules, on the other hand, provide you with the tools required to complete only some (and in some instances, only one) of the actions you need to perform to run an efficient clinic.

PracticeStudio X11 is a Complete EHR.

2. Is your EHR ONC-ATCB Certified?

The ONC, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, runs a government-sanctioned certification program by which certifying bodies, also known as ATCBs, Authorized Testing and Certification Bodies, can test EHR systems and verify that they are compliant with the latest healthcare standards. Providers who hope to receive ARRA (American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009) incentive payments must use ONC-ATCB Certified EHR products.

One thing to watch out for is the level at which an EHR is certified. There are products certified at both the Complete and the Modular level—and if you choose certified modules, it is up to you to ensure that the various products you purchase fit together in a way that covers all of your bases. A Certified Complete EHR does not require you to integrate several different products; the complete system contains all the tools you need within one product.

PracticeStudio X11 is ONC-ATCB Certified for 2011/2012 as an Ambulatory Complete EHR.

3. Is your EHR interoperable?

Interoperability refers to a software product's ability to communicate or interact with products from different manufacturers—or with public health registries established and maintained by the government. In order to run your practice efficiently, your EHR should be capable of communicating electronically with other providers, labs, public health registries, drug databases, pharmacies, and insurance companies, to name just a few.

PracticeStudio X11 uses a wide array of electronic interfaces to ensure that our software is interoperable with the majority of external systems on the healthcare market. PSX11 is also PQRS (Physician Quality Reporting System) Qualified for 2011, which means that our EHR is capable of submitting health information to the government in accordance with the latest quality measure standards.

4. How much does it cost?

EHR systems tend to be priced in one of two ways: either you pay a large sum upfront and then pay a yearly update fee (which is also rather large, usually), or you pay a small start-up/installation fee and then pay a monthly subscription. The thing that many EHR vendors won't tell you, though, is that the quoted price of a lot of EHRs is not all-inclusive; that is, you pay the cost for the actual system, but then if you want training or technical support or access to any of a number of additional features, they cost extra.

PracticeStudio X11 takes the monthly subscription route: there's an initial installation fee of $395, and then each provider at your clinic pays a set amount each month. Included in the price is not just the EHR itself, but also unlimited access to technical support (via phone, email, and online HelpDesk), online training, and webcasts.

5. Is it easy to use?

Any complete EHR is necessarily going to be an extensive and detailed software product. Some are much easier to navigate than others, though. The organization of the system, as well as the navigation tools (the menus, the links, etc.) should be easy to learn quickly. If they're not, you'll waste countless hours training your staff to use the system, and then any time you hire a new staff member, that learning curve will start all over again.

PracticeStudio X11 uses intuitive, role-based organization, as well as a role-based menu system that groups areas of the software according to which users typically access them. PS X11 also includes customizable charting workflows, a Provider Dashboard with links to outstanding provider tasks, and a Quick Launch menu that is user-specific, customizable, and always accessible.

6. Does it have the features you need?

There are certain things that all EHR systems have to be able to do: keep track of patient demographics, post financial transactions, allow you to record patients' charting information electronically, etc. But some EHRs contain additional features that can make your clinic run much more smoothly, like messaging, appointment scheduling, electronic claims processing, eprescribing, and lab management.

PracticeStudio X11 includes all of the features listed above as well as many more, including touch screen posting, past due lab notifications, patient tracking, estimated insurance calculation, remittance posting, and inventory tracking. It comes ready-to-use, day one, with a full complement of discipline-specific treatment forms and workflows...but it's also highly customizable.

7. Does it scale to the needs of your individual practice?

Scalability typically refers to two aspects: the number of providers whose records the EHR can keep track of, and the number of users who can be logged in simultaneously. Some EHRs are designed for small to mid-sized practices and have a hard time accommodating larger practices with numerous providers and a large number of staff members.

PracticeStudio X11 is built on the Microsoft® .NET platform and uses a SQL® Database backend, which allows for scalable growth within the application database when adding provider records and user accounts. The actual scalability of the application environment is a function of your hardware, networking, and SQL database installation, but with the adequate equipment, PS X11 can easily handle one user on one computer or a thousand users on a thousand computers.

8. Are the EMR and PM features integrated?

Most complete EHRs have both Electronic Medical Record and Practice Management features, but not all of them seamlessly integrate the two parts. You need a system that doesn't just provide billing and scheduling features in addition to charting, but that weaves all of the features together so that actions you perform in one area of the software are updated in other areas of the system simultaneously.

PracticeStudio X11 is fully integrated and contains a large number of programmatic connections that link different areas of the software together, so that you can maximize productivity by reducing the amount of time you spend entering information into the EHR.

9. Is it tailored toward your specific specialty?

Not all medical exams are the same. The charting feature of some EHRs contains a basic set of screens that is expected to adapt to a broad range of disciplines, and because of its generality, it doesn't work very well for any of them. You need an EHR that is designed specifically for your discipline, so that the screens allow for detailed input pertaining to your patients' precise conditions.

PracticeStudio X11 offers discipline-specific data sets for Cardiology, Chiropractic, Dermatology, Family Practice, Internal Medicine, and Urgent Care. Each data set comes with a set of prebuilt workflows, screens, and templates that were designed with input from practitioners within the discipline, but the screens are also highly customizable.

10. Does the company provide sufficient technical support and training?

An EHR is valuable only when it works the way you need it to—and when you are informed of the extent of its capabilities. If you have a problem with the system or a question about its features, you need ready access to technical support and learning resources so that the issue can be addressed quickly. Also, in addition to availability, you should consider the cost; many EHR companies charge by the minute for tech support.

PracticeStudio X11 offers product support and training in a variety of ways: remote desktop, phone, email, online HelpDesk, webcasts, and streaming training videos. And the best part is, it's included in your monthly subscription fee. All of it.