Building the Readiness Assessment Team

The readiness assessment team should include stakeholders with diverse roles in your organization, so you can leverage each person’s expertise and encourage buy-in across all departments. You should include:

• Clinical staff (e.g., physicians, nurses, medical assistants)
• Executive staff (e.g., Chief Information Officers, Chief Operations Officers, department or organization managers)
• Office staff (e.g., scheduling staff, registration staff, billing staff, IT staff)

Without diverse representation, the readiness assessment may not be comprehensive enough to identify all potential barriers to electronic health record (EHR) implementation.

Local Help

Your local Regional Extension Center (REC) can help you as you assess your organizational readiness and prepare for EHR implementation. RECs are located in every region of the country to help health care providers select, implement, and become adept and meaningful users of EHRs. Contact your local REC to find out if you are eligible for free or reduced-price EHR implementation support.

You should also communicate with peers at similar organizations who have already made the transition to EHRs to get advice and help with readiness assessments. Your local REC can help connect you with other providers who are implementing EHRs.

For More Information

For more information on assessing your organizational readiness, readiness assessments, and EHR implementation, see the following resources.

• How do I conduct a readiness assessment?
• Creating a Leadership Team for Successful EHR Implementation
• Who are the key stakeholders during electronic health record implementation?
• How do we conduct a readiness assessment?