Thirteen questions to ask now to make sure you are not the unlucky victim of a bad EHR/EMR contract. Read the contract for the answers!
- What are the hours Support is offered?
- Is there a limit on how many times I can call Support each month?
- Is there an extra fee for after-hours Support or my “additional” calls each month?
- Is there a charge for standard HL7 interfaces?
- Is there a charge for new releases?
- For client-server systems – what happens if I discontinue the support/maintenance contract? Will I still get new releases? What if I want to go back on Support later?
- For client-server systems – what are my responsibilities for maintaining my server(s) operating system, hot patches and new releases? Will my Support be voided if I have missed performing an update to the server, operating system or EHR system?
- How long is the contract? What is the $ penalty if I want to cancel early?
- Is there a “free-look” period or an opportunity to cancel the contract in the first 30-60 days and get my fees returned?
- Can I get a copy of my data in a standard format if I cancel? (This is equally important with client-server systems as with Internet-based systems because the data on client-server systems is often encoded.)
- Is there guaranteed system availability?
- How long does Support have to respond to my Support issues? What happens to my fees if the vendor does not meet the Support standards?
- Does the vendor agree to maintain Certification for the EHR Stimulus funding?