By Jim Hammer, FACHDM, PMP, Senior Partner and Chief Operating Officer at Harmony Healthcare IT
EHR migration projects are complex and resource-intensive, demanding impeccable quality. Data size and categories of data elements are increasing. This growing complexity has made timeline management one of the most challenging aspects of migration projects.
Migration project leaders can increase the likelihood of a successful migration project by following the five best practices we outlined in our recent report. In this piece, however, I’m focusing specifically on two factors that often drive migration project timeline delays.
Understanding these risk factors — and implementing proactive mitigation strategies — can improve your project’s chances of achieving successful implementation within your planned timeframe.
Factor #1: Third-Party Contract Execution Delays
One of the most underestimated timeline risks in EHR migrations involves the coordination and execution of third-party contracts. This risk includes the full ecosystem of vendor contracts required to support your migration (e.g., contracting with application vendors to provide any data considered proprietary in nature, i.e. encrypted progress notes and/or documents as one example).
The challenge intensifies because third-party relationships often involve vendors with their own project queues, resource constraints, and internal approval processes. A two-week delay in executing a critical data conversion contract, for example, could easily snowball into a six-week timeline impact.
Mitigation Strategy: Early Engagement
The most effective approach to managing third-party contract risk involves working backward from your go-live date to identify critical timeline dependencies.
Start by thoroughly understanding your EHR implementation plan and consulting early with your migration partner to identify milestone dates for critical items. This allows you to map third-party requirements against critical project milestones and identify potential bottlenecks before they impact your schedule.
When additional third-party contracts are needed, such as Oracle agreements for scanned documents, initiate these discussions as soon as possible.
Factor #2: Delays in Conversion Infrastructure Setup
The second major timeline risk involves establishing the technical infrastructure required to support data conversion activities. Infrastructure delays typically manifest in two ways: technical setup bottlenecks and access provisioning challenges. Technical setup issues often arise when conversion requirements aren’t clearly communicated to infrastructure teams early in the project. Without detailed specifications and clear timeline expectations, infrastructure setup becomes a reactive process that can easily extend project timelines.
Access and provisioning challenges are also problematic, because they often surface early during the critical project start-up phases when delays can make a significant impact. When your conversion team discovers they can’t access required systems or data during initial testing, for example, the resulting delays affect not just immediate milestones but can cascade to additional project phases.
Mitigation Strategy: Early Infrastructure Planning and Dedicated Working Sessions
Prioritize infrastructure setup discussions pre-contract execution, so technical teams know what is required and can hit the ground running as soon as the project is approved.
Your migration partner should provide detailed infrastructure diagrams that document exactly what’s needed to support conversion activities, as well as technical planning discussions to help your team navigate infrastructure setup. When virtual environments are compatible, they should also supply pre-configured virtual server images with software and any proprietary tools pre-loaded and configured. This will reduce the setup burden on your infrastructure team while ensuring that conversion environments meet vendor specifications and performance requirements.
For user access and permissions, establish dedicated working sessions to resolve any issues early in your project. This ensures potential blockers are identified and addressed immediately, rather than creating iterative delays through back-and-forth communications at later project stages.
Reducing Timeline Risk Through Strategic Project Management
In my experience, the most successful EHR migrations share a common trait: upfront investment in planning and coordination. Engaging an effective migration partner early can help ensure you’re prioritizing the right activities at the right time, significantly reducing your risk of project delays.
Is your organization planning an EHR migration and concerned about timeline management? Contact us to schedule a consultation. We can share more recommendations regarding the first steps to tackle to ensure you experience a streamlined and accelerated project, from start to finish.
About the Author
Jim Hammer, FACHDM, is Chief Operating Officer at Harmony Healthcare IT and drives the short- and long-term strategy of its products and services. He has over 30 years of experience in practice management and healthcare information technology.
