Electronic Health Record Transition Considerations.

After an initial phase of electronic health record (EHR) solutions for both independent practices and larger health care organizations, we are now entering a period in which transitioning between EHRs is becoming more common. Many of the decisions and implementation processes for an EHR transition are similar to those encountered during the transition from paper records to an EHR. Detailed project planning and management are essential to keep the effort on track and within budget to a successful conclusion. One major difference between the 2 situations is the possibility of migrating patient data by using automation. Understanding the implications of structured and unstructured data to manage the data migration between EHR systems is important to ensure success of the effort. Access to legacy data after the transition for both patient care and release of information to external parties is also critical to understand and manage proactively.