Electronic Health Record Implementation Toolkit

The Health Information Technology field is complex. Equally complex are the national guides and tools for reviewing, selecting, and implementing Electronic Health Records (EHR). Many of the tools in existence, while excellent resources are unnecessarily complex for the needs of Kansas Local Health Departments (see note). Because of this, it was determined that some of these tools could be simplified to help enhance the understanding of the fundamental issues surrounding EHR implementation.

This toolkit was not created to be the only source of information for LHDs. The purpose of this toolkit is to provide an overview of important elements of EHR selection and implementation to help LHDs assess, plan, and avoid known pitfalls. It is recommended that any LHD looking to implement an EHR proceed with an understanding that this toolkit does not cover all of the necessary details, but will provide a thoughtful step-by-step overview of the process. Further research should be conducted and consultation with experts is still needed. For example, legal assistance in the evaluation of Requests for Proposals and EHR contracts. Some additional resources are provided at the end of this document.

Note: While this toolkit was originally designed for use by LHDs, it may also be useful to other public sector clinics as well as private-sector clinics that are involved in the administration of vaccines.