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Contributing Writer · Jan 11, 2011

EHR / EMR implementation timeline: Go from months to weeks

“How long will it take to implement an EMR in my practice?” This is a question being asked by thousands of providers across the country as they try to implement an EMR in time to collect EMR incentives. This is not the only question, but it is an important one as there is a deadline to qualify for Meaning Use incentives. It turns out providers have a lot of misconceptions about the timeline to implement an EMR.

As the Account Manager Team Lead at Practice Fusion, I have helped oversee thousands of successful EMR implementations. If there is one thing I know well, it’s what it takes to successfully complete the process. The Account Management Team is here to provide you with all of the resources you need to go paperless. Practice Fusion is here for you from the day you sign up. We make sure all your practice is trained, your e-prescribing is set up and you are integrated to the regional and national labs you use. We also introduce you to our growing community through our forums, and put you in touch with our support team (which was rated ‘outstanding’ by our users). Ongoing support and training are all-important facets of choosing an EMR, but how long should this all take?

An interesting observation I’ve made within the last year and a half at Practice Fusion is that a lot of providers are signing up six to nine months before they intend to go live with Practice Fusion’s EMR because they think it will take six to nine months to complete EHR adoption. What ends up happening is that we train their entire staff, enable e-prescribing, labs, billing, and referrals within a couple weeks while they are still seeing patients! Also, since there are no servers to buy and maintain, or software to install, a practice is often able to use the computers they already have to run their EMR. Providers end up being months ahead of schedule because Practice Fusion is unlike any other EMR out there.

So, how long should it take? Well, it turns out it depends which vendor you talk to. The reason I’ve seen providers expect six to nine months or more to implement an EMR, is because they’ve done their research. They’ve contacted other vendors, received price quotes and contracts, and have been told that there is a back log out there of more than four months to actually implement those EMRs in their practice.

When providers come to Practice Fusion they have this general sense from the many vendors they’ve spoken with that implementing an EMR will take several months. The reason you can implement Practice Fusion in a matter of weeks and not months is because there is nothing ever to install, it is easy to use, and we take care of all the integrations for you. I don’t know if anyone has noticed, but this is a game changer.

Sabas Rodriguez
Account Manager — Team Lead
Practice Fusion EMR