An EHR Case Study: Assessing the Needs of a Multispecialty Practice A multispecialty practice providing services in neurology, gastroenterology, nephrology, and otolaryngology has a patient population of over 500 patients per month, would like to move from a single practice documentation system to an EHR that has the ability to interface with the 2 of the largest healthcare organization in the area. The practice manager and the physicians are afraid that they would not be able to agree on an EHR that meets the needs of the different specialties in the practice. The physicians are also concerned with the overall cost of an EHR for a multi-specialty practice. The practice manager has done some research and she found out that a multispecialty clinic over in the next town is using an EHR that is designed with both pre-designed and custom templates. However, she needs to determine what data is collected in each specialty, eliminate duplication, streamline workflow and develop templates to present to the physicians and nurses for review and assessment.

1. Why is determining the number of patients seen over specific time periods important?

2. Why is it important to conduct research before selecting and purchasing an EHR system?