"It has helped tremendously to have the OSMA Standards of Excellence Program available. The OSMA has already done the homework on all of the vendors," said Annette Szempruch, practice manager at ENT of Springfield, Inc., a three-physician practice in Springfield, Ohio. "Instead of looking at a hundred companies or so, I can check out the vendors in the Standards of Excellence Program since the OSMA knows what physician offices are looking for when it comes to an EMR."

One goal of the OSMA program is to give physician practices more confidence in their EMR decision. The Coker Group estimates that nearly 30 percent of their projects are spent reinvigorating or removing failed EMR systems.

"The OSMA Standards of Excellence Program helps avert much of the risk associated with some of these failures," said Jeffery Daigrepont, a principal with The Coker Group.

"I am so impressed by the way the OSMA has done this," said Teresa Schutz, practice administrator at Lima Pulmonary and Critical Care Associates, Inc., a five-physician office in Lima, Ohio. "It is so nice that the OSMA, along with The Coker Group, have gone through the process of making sure these vendors are certified, reputable and offer a fair EMR contract."

The Standards of Excellence program was launched in March 2008 and is available exclusively to OSMA members.