In working and researching EMR in Alberta medical clinics, a question has come up.

If the software company is out of the city or province, can they respond quickly enough to do a computer repair? Some clinics may find that when a system failure occurs that is computer related, there is no local support for them. Most clinics do not have the technical skills on staff to do a computer repair. If your server was down or a hard drive crashed, what would happen? Having a local technology company manage and support the system hardware could result in a financial saving by reducing down time. If you have a EMR system, I recommend that you inquire with your software provider on how or who would do the repair and how long would it take.

As you become dependant on your EMR, Billing, and Scheduling system, any down time could be very costly in money and productivity.