In an informal discussion with a colleague, we talked about what is necessary for a product to be considered an ideal purchase? For some products, people can use the method of experimenting with similar products, but for an investment that affects a whole practice or business, there has to be a way of finding out the best option without experimentation.

When choosing an EMR system, care providers face a similar dilemma. They have to choose a vendor and software that works best for their practice. With the Healthcare IT industry still in its development stages, the market is saturated with new vendors with innovative products. Finding ‘the right fit’ for your practice can be exhausting since there is a plethora of options to choose from.

After reading a number of different guides explaining the various factors that determine an ideal EMR, I have come up with a list of factors that will you in choosing the perfect EMR for your practice. How many EMRs can you possibly examine in detail, after all? 10, or maybe even 20?

5 steps to find the perfect EMR vendors

1. Listing your needs: In this phase, practices will list the various factors and components that they would like in their software and the qualities in the vendor.
2. Initial Research: During this phase, based on the list in the first step, practices will look for vendors that offer the specific type of EMR software that they would like to invest in, and narrow it down to just a few vendors.
3. Comparing the vendors: In this, practices will compare the differences in the shortlisted vendors and come to a final list of two vendors that are similar.
4. Monetary and Quality Worthiness: This is one of the most important steps and will determine your final choice. Is the vendor worth the money? Does the software provide the needed functionality? Is it easy to use?
5. Lastly, practices must decide on implementation after choosing the vendor and determine the level and quality of training and consultation be received from the vendor.

Physicians require mature, stable systems that have evolved through user feedback, embracing both the technology and user requirements. While there may be a lot of applications today to be considered only a few will have actually worked on the platform long enough.