Does your EHR contract have a way for either party to amicably separate services?
I was reviewing a vendor contract the other day. One of the areas I make sure I review is the term of the contract, and along with that, how the contract can be terminated. This particular contract had a 3-year term, with automatic one year renewals. Pretty standard.
Except usually contracts have a 30 or 60 day notice requirement before renewal giving either party to the contract the option to opt out of the contract. Interestingly, this contract had no such provision. The only way to change vendors would be to have one of us breach the contract. In theory, once we chose this vendor, we were hitched for life!
Who knows if that would stand up in a court of law, but, really, who wants to go there? When we brought this issue up with the vendor, they indicated that no one had ever raised this issue with them, and they were taken by surprise by the comment.
Does your EHR contract have a way for either party to amicably separate services? It is important to read it to make sure.