Once the decision is made: How to wrangle EHR contracts

[Editor: We are pleased to introduce guest author Michael Uretz, an expert on contractual negotiations surrounding the purchase of an EHR. Over the coming weeks, Uretz will contribute a series of posts that will help you better understand how to work through the contractual elements of your EHR purchase. Here's a teaser for what's to come.]

As I travel the country speaking and consulting on Electronic Health Records Best Practices I am fortunate to have conference attendees and consulting clients openly share their concerns, worries, apprehensions and their personal stories. And too often these concerns focus on EHR contracts, a concern exemplified by the following appeal from a frustrated provider:

My question is whether anyone out there has suggestions on negotiating the fine points on a contract. Our biggest concern is that the contract only deals with our obligations…nothing about their guarantee about service and functionality.

I’ve been involved with technology deals for many years, and when I began looking at EHR contracts a few years back, I noticed that, on face value, that they were fairly one sided. This makes sense from the vendor’s perspective. The vendor needs to look out for their own interests and those of their shareholders. The problem is, more often than not, practices and groups don’t spend the time to adequately review and negotiate their EHR contracts and support agreements to protect their own interests.

This is the worst mistake you could make as you will live for years with the “rules of the road” set forth in your EHR contracts and agreements. And once the deal is signed, there’s no going back. You have one shot at making it right, and that is before you ink the deal.

Over the years, I have been contacted a number of times by individuals that had executed poor contracts and were in a position of trying to resolve ongoing issues after the fact. If they had only looked closer at their contracts before they signed…

So, I wanted to share with you some of my experience, knowledge, and success in this area with the hope that after reading some of these tips you will not just accept an EHR deal and contract without looking out for your best interests. And that was the motivation behind this series of mini articles EHR Decisions will be bringing to you in the upcoming weeks.

Remember, the more you understand what you are signing and the more you have a hand in structuring your licensing contracts and support agreements, the better chance you ultimately have at long term success.

Michael Uretz has been involved with all aspects of technology selection, negotiation, and acquisition for almost 30 years. He presently serves as Executive Director of The EHR Group, a consultancy dedicated to providing guidance to healthcare organizations as they navigate through Electronic Health Record selection, contract negotiation, and project implementation.

Michael is considered one of the leading authorities on EHR Selection and Contract Negotiation. He is frequently asked to conduct EHR Vendor Selection and Contract negotiation seminars and workshops on both the state and national level and is the author of the CD “How to Survive Your EHR Contract.”

He can be reached at (425) 434-7102 or mikeu@ehrgroup.com.