Do your homework before recommending any system
Do your homework before recommending any system
Here are some key questions to ask vendors
Looking for hard data on congestive heart failure (CHF) rates over the past couple of years so you can see - and show others - how you're doing? You've tried consultants in the past for help in benchmarking your facility against the competition, but this year you'd like an easier, more cost-effective way. A few taps on the keyboard can get you the information you need if you have the right computer software and database. (See related story on how to get your hospital to purchase decision-support software, p. 46.) Arm yourself with the facts on how to get the biggest possible bang for your buck when you propose such a large capital investment to your hospital.
Finding the decision-support software system that will work best for your facility can be a daunting task. Some hospitals purchase a system but never use it to its fullest potential. Others invest thousands of dollars, only to discover that they can't get the data or reports they want.
Some companies claim their commercial products collect outcomes, but it is hard to say what outcomes are, says Jonathon Seltzer, MD, senior director of health systems research for Premier Research Worldwide in Philadelphia. "Who says they're interested in the outcomes I'm interested in?"
Should you use pre-packaged programs?
The bottom line is this: You can't expect to get the best system by just pulling a package off the shelf, unwrapping it, and loading it. That method is destined for disaster, including wasted time and some expensive mistakes. To do an adequate search will likely require months of investigating vendors and their products. Here are some key questions you should pose before you buy:
· How much money and time are you willing to spend?
If you found the perfect system, could you afford it? Cost and value clearly enter into the purchasing decision. You may find less expensive, one-size-fits-all outcomes management software that fits your requirements exactly. Or it may have little or no flexibility to meet your practice's specific information needs. The software will pay for itself only if you use it. If cheap is what you want, cheap is what you'll get.
· What are your information system needs?
If you're not sure what you want your outcomes software to do, you need to spend time upfront analyzing your measurement needs.
You should start at the end and work backward, says Robert Eberle, president of Clinical Information Consultants, a Raleigh, NC, firm specializing in outcomes and information systems. What information do you want to collect? Why do you want to collect it? How are you going to use it?
Physicians and staff may have different ideas about what outcomes they want to measure. Your software search should include their input because if you don't involve them, whatever system you put in will fail because they won't like it and won't use it.
Don't be wowed by technological wizardry. You don't need and probably won't use many features that are offered, cautions Seltzer. "It's easy to be very impressed with all the bells and whistles." The real question is simply, "Does it do what I need it to do?"
Be practical. Outcomes management technology is evolving at a rapid pace. There is nothing out there that will do everything you want it to do. No company can build you a customized system within a reasonable time frame - for example, one year - that will do everything you want it to do because your needs will change while they are building it.
· How will the system function within your institution?
You may find a system that is impressive in its scope and versatility. It can produce reports on everything you'll need. But will the system work for you? Who will collect and input the information? When? Will you write it on a form and assign someone to input it later?
"I need to implement the collection of information so it doesn't affect the management of the patient or the delivery of services," says Eberle. Outcomes management software shouldn't require an extra layer of paperwork that duplicates other forms that contain the same information.
How many terminals will your hospital need? Will your current hardware work with the new software? What billing and other systems do you currently have? Can they communicate with the new software? If they don't, "for a price, you can make them communicate," says Eberle. "That's another cost factor."
· What is the vendor's track record?
Do some legwork before you present your idea to the financial department. What training and support will each vendor provide? Experts agree that you should work with established vendors, because in this ever-changing field, companies may not last long. "You want to pick the company that has the best chance of being there five years from now," says Eberle.
What is the company's financial status? What do other institutions say about the software?
If you do your homework, you won't be disappointed, Eberle says. "You can get a system that will work within the framework of your expectations only if you work with those systems that will meet or exceed your expectations."
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