Establish the EHR Team

With any large project, a project team needs to be assembled. There are different roles that need to be filled, but one person may fill more than one role.

Project Manager: This person will manage and oversee all aspects of the EHR project including project administration and resource management.

Clinical Leader: This person will oversee the clinical impact of the project and make decisions about how clinical processes are redesigned.

Business Leader: This person is responsible for overseeing the financial and legal concerns during the project.

Technical Leader: This person is responsible for overseeing the technical aspects of the project. He or she also serves as the technical advisor to the project.

In a small practice, a physician may play all of the roles or they may be split between two physicians. In a medium-sized practice, the champion physician is usually the project manager and the technical leader. Another physician may take the role of clinical leader, and the business manager may take the role of business leader for the project. In a larger practice, the project manager and technical leader may come from outside of the practice.

No matter how these roles are filled, they must be filled. You may want to consider a consultant to fill the role of technical leader and/or project manager. Many EHR vendors can provide consultative services. If a consultant is used, a person in the practice serving in one of the other roles must provide oversight of the consultant.