The High Priority Practices SAFER Guide identifies “high risk” and “high priority” recommended safety practices intended to optimize the safety and safe use of EHRs. It broadly addresses the EHR safety concerns discussed in greater detail in the other eight SAFER Guides.

The Organizational Responsibilities SAFER Guide identifies individual and organizational responsibilities (activities, processes, and tasks) intended to optimize the safety and safe use of EHRs. A safe EHR implementation is critically dependent on the people involved.

The Contingency Planning SAFER Guide identifies recommended safety practices associated with planned or unplanned EHR unavailability—instances in which clinicians or other end users cannot access all or part of the EHR. Occasional temporary unavailability of EHRs is inevitable, due to failures of software and hardware infrastructure, as well as power outages and natural and man-made disasters. Such unavailability can introduce substantial safety risks to organizations that have not adequately prepared.

The System Configuration SAFER Guide identifies recommended safety practices associated with the way EHR hardware and software are set up (“configured”). EHR configuration includes the creation and maintenance of the physical environment in which the system will operate, as well as the implementation of the required hardware and software infrastructure.

The System Interfaces SAFER Guide identifies recommended safety practices intended to optimize the safety and safe use of system-to-system interfaces between EHR-related software applications. Many healthcare organizations are involved in planning, implementing, or maintaining enterprise- or community-wide clinical information systems that require integration.