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Electronic Health Records: Selection Guidelines for Health Centers

news Electronic Health Records Regional Workshops for HRSA Grantees
Especially for HRSA grantees planning on procuring or implementing an Electronic Health Records system (EHR) in the next six months or planning to join/already participating in a network.

Electronic Health Records: Selection Guidelines help health centers evaluate electronic health records (EHR) products and develop requests for proposals (RFP) or requests for information (RFI).

The down-loadable Word document, written in RFI format, enables health centers to gather detailed information from EHR vendors about their products.

The Guidelines

  • borrow from the Health Level 7 (HL7) EHR functional model, the industry standard,
  • were developed in consultation with HIT staffers and clinicians from health centers, and
  • are customized for health centers.

How to Use EHR Selection Guidelines

  • Add to or subtract from the relatively comprehensive list of features in the Guidelines to make sure the EHR you select meets your needs.
  • Gather detailed information from vendors as you consider EHR products.
  • Specify EHR needs to vendors as part of an RFP. Products will meet the guidelines to varying degrees.
  • Evaluate vendor proposals and products to make informed purchasing decisions.

In addition, you should verify that products you are considering purchasing are also certified by the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT). The EHR Selection Guidelines address the specific needs of health centers and complement, but do not replace CCHIT.

Related Links
 

Health Information Technology Initiatives (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services)

Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services)

National Resource Center for Health Information Technology (Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality)

America's Health Care Safety Net: Intact but Endangered (Institute of Medicine)

Rural Health Care Pilot Program (Federal Communications Commission)

State Alliance for e-Health (National Governors Association - not a U.S. Government Web site)

Health Information Technology CHampions (National Conference of State Legislatures - not a U.S. Government Web site)

EHR Presentations & Information for Health Centers (not a U.S. Government Web site) from the Health Disparities Collaboratives