EHR Implementation Scope Statement
This is a practical guide to building a scope statement for an ehr implementation project — a definition of deliverables, boundaries and acceptance criteria, adapted to the realities of implementing an electronic health records system.
What a Scope Statement is
A scope statement is a definition of deliverables, boundaries and acceptance criteria. For the full concept and how it works in general, see Scope Statement. 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 scope statement 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
- Deliverables
- In scope
- Explicitly out of scope
- Acceptance criteria
- Constraints and assumptions
EHR Implementation-specific considerations
Tailor the scope statement 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 scope statement 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.