The Basics

Assessing your organizational readiness is a foundational step in the electronic health record (EHR) implementation process. In the readiness assessment phase, you will determine if your organization is ready to make the change from paper records to an EHR system or to upgrade your current EHR system to a certified EHR system.

“How To”

Your readiness assessment should look at the current state of the organization:

• Are administrative processes streamlined and documented?
• Are clinical workflows well understood and mapped out?
• Are data collection and reporting processes well established and documented? 
• Are staff members computer literate and comfortable with IT?
• Does the organization have access to high-speed internet connectivity?
• Does the organization have access to the financial capital required to purchase new or additional hardware?
• Are there clinical priorities that need to be addressed?
• Does the organization have specialty specific requirements?

Through the Regional Extension Centers, we’ve learned that these questions will help you understand the current state of your organization and identify key goals for improvement before EHR implementation. Often, these EHR implementation goals relate to patient satisfaction, organizational productivity and efficiency, improved quality of work environment, and, most importantly, improved health care quality and patient outcomes.

For More Information

For more information on readiness assessments and EHR implementation, see the following resources.

• Is there a tool I can use to assess my organizational readiness?
• Who should assess organizational readiness? Who can I ask for help?
• How do we conduct a readiness assessment?
• How Do I Know If I am Ready to Implement Health IT?