Selecting a clinical system

For more than three decades, health care information systems have built upon the administrative and financial information needs of the health care delivery organization. Industry analysts project that administrative and financial information systems will continue to be important to health care, but post-Y2K resources increasingly will fall on the purchase, installation and support of clinical documentation and reporting tools. This manuscript provides a brief overview of the electronic medical record (EMR), and identifies and explains the need for EMRs in health care. This article also provides strategies for medical group managers and information systems managers to successfully select and negotiate a contract for an electronic medical record.