EHR Vendor Contracts Becoming Less Provider-Friendly

Warning: Be careful before you sign that contract for an electronic health record system. Vendor contracts are becoming more one-sided and difficult, according to EHR consultant Ron Sterling in a blog post on HITECH Answers this week. 

Most vendors, according to Sterling, are much larger and more sophisticated than their provider customers; as a result, their contracts are all about protecting the vendors, not the products' users. 

"EHR contracts contain an increasing array of complicating structures and dense terms that offer fewer and fewer commitments to your practice," Sterling said.