3 questions from the package
From the RFI round. The first shows part of the guide each question carries; the workbook adds follow-ups, how to verify the answer, a priority and a weight.
1. Does your in-basket deliver patient messages, staff messages, cosign requests, forms awaiting signature, and chart-completion deficiencies to a single work queue for each provider?
Why it matters. When these items arrive in separate queues or applications, providers miss tasks or spend extra time checking several places. Unsigned notes and unanswered messages then build up.
Good answer
- All listed item types appear in one queue per provider, with a filter for each type
- Item counts and overdue flags show on one screen without opening each folder
- The same queue is available on desktop and on the mobile app
Red flags
- Chart deficiencies or cosign requests live in a separate module or a separate login
- Some item types reach providers only by email or by report
- The vendor says consolidation requires custom build at each site
2. In [care settings], can a provider place an order today that is held for release at a later date or at a later encounter?
Why it matters. Ambulatory lab orders for a future draw and orders for a later visit are routine. Without held orders, staff re-enter orders by hand or track them outside the record, and orders are missed or duplicated.
3. Does your electronic prescribing of controlled substances function hold a current third-party audit or certification under 21 CFR Part 1311?
Why it matters. Under 21 CFR Part 1311, prescribers may sign controlled-substance prescriptions electronically only in an application that has passed a third-party audit or certification. Without one, prescribers fall back to paper or separate tools for scheduled drugs.
Capability areas
Clinician Documentation & Usability (13)
Provider note writing, templates, problem and history lists, chart review, in-basket handling, and clicks and context switches per common encounter on desktop and mobile. Excludes AI-generated documentation (AIC) and order entry (ORD).
Orders, Order Sets & Clinical Decision Support (12)
Computerized provider order entry, order sets, care pathways, decision-support rules and alerts, alert-fatigue tuning, results routing and acknowledgment, and referral orders tracked to a closed loop. Excludes medication dispensing and administration (MED).
Medication Management (12)
Medication reconciliation at transitions of care, e-prescribing including controlled substances, pharmacy verification, barcode medication administration, and the medication administration record. Excludes general order entry (ORD).
Inpatient & Nursing Workflows (9)
Admission, transfer and discharge, nursing assessments and flowsheets, care plans, shift handoff, bed and census views, device data capture, and rounding on mobile. Excludes ambulatory-only workflows.
Specialty & Care-Setting Content (10)
Depth of delivered content and workflows for the emergency department, perioperative, oncology, behavioral health, obstetrics, and ambulatory specialties, plus how acute and ambulatory settings share one record. Excludes how content is configured (BLD).
Clinical Interoperability & Data Exchange (13)
Exchange of clinical data through national networks and TEFCA, FHIR API and bulk export coverage, information-blocking request handling, and interfaces to labs, imaging, pharmacy, devices, and health information exchanges. Excludes generic enterprise APIs and identity integration (integration module).
Patient Access & Revenue Cycle (13)
Registration, eligibility, scheduling rules, charge capture, coding support, claim edits, denial management, payer-rule upkeep, and whether billing is software the buyer runs or a service the vendor operates. Excludes patient-facing bill pay (PAT).
Patient Portal & Digital Front Door (9)
Patient portal and mobile app, self-scheduling, intake forms, secure messaging, telehealth visits, proxy and adolescent access, record release to patients, and bill pay. Excludes staff-side scheduling rules (RCM).
Ambient AI & Documentation Assistance (10)
Native or partner ambient scribe, AI note drafts, chart summarization, in-basket reply drafting, clinician review before signing, and how AI output writes back to discrete chart fields and billing. Excludes generic AI governance, bias, and cost controls (cross-cutting AI modules).
Clinical Access Control, Audit & Downtime (9)
Role-based clinical access, break-glass access and its review, segmentation of sensitive records such as behavioral health and substance use, access-audit reporting for privacy officers, and downtime read-only access with back-entry after recovery. Excludes general security controls and vendor DR architecture (security and business-continuity modules).
Clinical Reporting, Quality & Population Health (10)
Electronic quality measure calculation and submission, registries, care-gap identification, operational and clinical dashboards, and access to reporting data for the buyer's analysts. Excludes revenue-cycle financial reporting (RCM).
Build, Configuration & Legacy Data (9)
Delivered foundation content versus custom build, configuration tooling for analysts, test and training environments, change promotion and version history, upgrade handling of local changes, and legacy clinical data conversion or read-only archive access. Excludes implementation staffing and methodology (implementation-onboarding module).
Questions about this package
How many Electronic Health Records (EHR) RFP questions are there?
129 solution questions in 12 capability areas: 25 for the RFI, 69 for the RFP and 35 deep-dive questions for the finalists. The workbook adds 80 due-diligence questions on security, integration, implementation and exit.
What comes with each question?
Why it matters, good-answer signals, red flags, follow-up questions, how to verify the answer (a demo step, a test or a document), and a suggested priority and weight for scoring.
Can I edit the questions?
Yes. The workbook is an ordinary Excel file. Change, add or remove questions, and change the weights; the scorecard recalculates.
Which license do I need?
The Enterprise License covers any number of evaluations inside one organization. The Consultancy License covers use with any number of clients. Neither allows reselling or republishing the questions.
