EHR Implementation Business Case
This is a practical guide to building a business case for an ehr implementation project — the justification that weighs the costs, benefits and risks of doing the project, adapted to the realities of implementing an electronic health records system.
What a Business Case is
A business case is the justification that weighs the costs, benefits and risks of doing the project. For the full concept and how it works in general, see Business Case. On an ehr implementation project it plays the same role, tuned to this kind of work.
Why it matters for an EHR Implementation project
EHR Implementation projects live or die on implementing an electronic health records system. A well-built business case gives the team a shared, explicit reference for exactly that — reducing ambiguity, aligning stakeholders, and making problems visible early enough to act. Skipping it, or doing it generically, is how ehr implementation projects drift into avoidable delay and cost.
What to include
- Problem or opportunity
- Options considered
- Costs and benefits
- Financial appraisal (ROI/NPV/IRR)
- Recommendation
EHR Implementation-specific considerations
Tailor the business case to the risks that most often derail ehr implementation projects:
- Clinical workflow disruption
- Patient-data privacy
- Clinician adoption
Example
On a real ehr implementation project, the business case would be shaped by implementing an electronic health records system. In particular, it should explicitly account for the project’s biggest risks — clinical workflow disruption, patient-data privacy, clinician adoption — rather than treating them as afterthoughts.