What happens at the end of your contract term?
How long is your EHR contract term? 1 year? 2 years? 3 years? More? What happens at the end of your contract term? Typically, the longer commitment you make to a vendor’s product, the less expensive the cost should be. You should be able to save some money by committing to an EHR for a longer time.
One issue to watch out for is what happens at the end of the contract term to your cost. What is the escalation rate in your contract? You should be able to negotiate a reasonable escalation rate that is fair to both parties.
A second issue to watch out for is the automatic renewal feature of most contracts. I recently reviewed a 3 year contract that had an automatic renewal clause, but there was no “out” clause. That is, once the contract was signed, there was no way that either party could cancel the contract without a breach. Review the renewal portion of your contract to make certain that there is a 30 or 60 day cancellation notice window built in. That way, should you not be happy with your choice of an EHR, there is a method allowing cancelation of the contract without penalty.