Healthcare IT consultants can help your practice take advantage of technology that’s quickly becoming the industry standard. The entire healthcare industry is in the process of transforming from a paper environment to an electronic one. All processes and information, including health records, prescriptions, lab results, medical transcriptions, imaging, staff and patient communications, paging systems and more are being converted to digital formats managed by a variety of technology solutions.
Healthcare IT consulting services have become critical as many practices are converting to EHR (electronic health records) software, which is usually integrated with a physician practice management (PPM) solution. Healthcare IT consultants can assure that the time and money you invest in technology solutions will result in a secure, efficient, integrated electronic healthcare environment.
When looking for healthcare technology consulting services, consider the following:
1. Government support and goals for health information technology (HIT) and how IT services for healthcare can help you implement software that will keep you abreast of national standards.
2. Think of strategy first in healthcare technology consulting.
3. Hiring a healthcare technology consultant to implement EHR.
4. Healthcare IT consulting services that can integrate EHR with PPM software.
Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done
Government support for health information technology (HIT)
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Health Information Technology (HIT) office is actively supporting the development of electronic management of health care information. EHR implementation is at the core of the overhaul. IT services for healthcare can help you achieve government standards in your own practice.
I recommend: EHR software must be certified by
CCHIA (Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology). A knowledgeable healthcare IT consultant can help you find solutions that have been properly certified.
The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) Center for Health Information Technology assists office-based clinicians with EHR implementations.
Biz Technology Solutions advises hospitals and medical practices that wish to implement an EHR solution on vendor selection and implementation.
Work with healthcare IT consultants to choose the best healthcare technology solutions
Choosing healthcare IT solutions is only one part of an overall strategic business plan. Find a healthcare IT consultant with healthcare industry expertise who will evaluate and advise you on your business strategy first and then offer IT solutions that align with your business goals.
I recommend: RCG Healthcare Consulting offers strategic planning and vendor selection.
Stoltenberg Consulting is a healthcare IT consulting firm that addresses both clinical and financial technology needs with a process that moves from analyzing your business, assessing your needs and selection and implementation of technology solutions.
First Consulting Group (FCG) offers clinical, financial and operational technology solutions to healthcare providers, including offshore outsourcing.
bcc:Consulting is a strategy-based healthcare IT consulting firm that specializes in mobile healthcare, electronic medical records and e-prescribing.
Hiring a healthcare IT consultant to implement EHR
While a healthcare IT consultant should be capable of integrating all your IT systems, finding one that is up-to-date with EHR solutions is critical.
I recommend: ehrCentral offers a directory of
EHR consulting firms.
CureMD offers IT services for healthcare practices and offers a web-based, customizable CCHIT-certified electronic medical records solution.
Maxwell IT offers complete EHR selection services.
Choose healthcare IT consultants who can integrate EHR with PPM software
When most medical practices decide to invest in an EHR solution, they are already using some kind of PPM software. It is critical to find a healthcare IT consultant who can advise you on either buying a solution that offers both EHR and PPM components or integrating new EHR software with your existing PPM system.
I recommend: Sage Software Healthcare offers IT services for healthcare in both EHR and PPM applications, guaranteeing seamless integration.
Cimage is a healthcare IT consultancy that handles both EHR and PPM implementations.
Tips & Tactics
Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide
- Healthcare IT consulting firms suggest giving special consideration to web-based applications since the industry is trending in this direction.
- Smaller practices can save money by using hosted IT services for healthcare practices. This way, the software resides and is managed off-site so your team isn't responsible for software installation or updates.
- Have healthcare IT consultants include ROI as part of their bid.
The official source of Healthcare IT Consulting is
the Health Care IT Consulting page at Business.com
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