How Can A Behavioral Health EHR Benefit Your Practice?

There have been various reasons that have resulted in numerous behavioral health physicians choosing not to implement an Electronic Health Record (EHR) or EMR at their practices.  Among the reasons has been the fact that many behavioral health specialists were not eligible for Meaningful Use incentives, and thus chose to remain paper-based.

However, this article focuses on the benefits of these systems for the average behavioral health practice, and how the pros of these systems outweigh the cons.

Firstly, such systems can be an extremely safe and reliable avenue for data capture, and can be used by the users for the benefit of their patients; for comprehensive documentation of patient information that can be aggregated over time to create trends, and help in the treatment process.

Moreover, many behavioral health EHRs I’ve come across allow customization according to your needs and practice requirements. Apart from the initial customization that is used to accommodate your particular sub-specialty with behavioral health, this feature will allow you to edit and manage your templates and forms according to your preferences.

Furthermore, customization allows you to mark commonly accessed reports as your favorites list; this provides you faster access to such reports and is very beneficial in streamlining your workflows. You can also create customized reports according to your practice needs.

The next benefit is that of interoperability, which will allow you to readily communicate and exchange information with other hospitals, which will help provide you a more comprehensive patient description. Family links, social conditions and other such data which the patient fails to provide (either willingly or due to specific conditions), will help you ensure the best possible care strategy for the patient. This feature will also allow you to readily communicate with different labs and other health care institutions so that patient data such as X-rays reach you as soon as they are produced.

The aim of this article was to shed some light on the a few benefits of these systems so that you realize you can gain a lot by bringing a behavioral health EHR to your practice.

 

The Burgeoning EMR Market

The EMR market is driven by the increasing usage of EMR systems due to the need for provision of quality care, cost-savings and government incentives and advocacy.

According to Kalorama Information, the global information research organization, the global market for EMRs in the year 2013 was valued at $23.2 billion.

Mary Ann Crandall, Kalorama Analyst stated, “We think adoption and upgrading activities will still be stimulating growth in 2014-2018; as new systems are sold, companies will still earn revenues from existing clients in servicing and consulting services.”

The report suggests that the industry will continue to grow, although at a slower pace with hospital EMR adoption taking over practice EMR adoption. Furthermore, the threat of government penalties will render practices to train staff on new systems and expedite the overall change in the way care providers practice medicine.

Mary Ann Crandall further stated, “We estimate a quarter to a third of customers would like to switch EMRs and may look into replacing their current vendor. The main reasons for dissatisfaction with the system they have include lack of key features, a cumbersome and complex interface, poor EHR usability, and bad hardware”.

The report by Kalorama includes revenues for EMR systems, CPOE systems, installation, training, servicing as well as consulting which are highly profitable areas for organizations.

Indeed, with programs such as Meaningful Use still on the roll, there is still room for more practices to switch to EMRs. Increased online support for modern technology such as EHR/EMR, Practice Management Systems, Patient Portal and interoperable innovative medical devices have resulted in a surge of interest and adoption of EMR and EHR softwares across the country.

This is for those Who are Hesitant about EHRs

As Healthcare IT has evolved, it has brought in various technological modern innovations that have promised to make every process more efficient and cost effective. With the Health IT evolution, Electronic Health Record (EHR) Software have joined the game and gained momentum over the last 5 years. The government has spearheaded the campaign to promote usage of EHRs by encouraging practices to take part in the Meaningful Use program and earn thousands of dollars in incentives.

Many practices have come a long way in utilizing EHRs for their benefit, and making sure they remain eligible for the incentive by meeting certain criteria set out by the government. Still, there are many practices that are unwilling, hesitant or just nervous to investing in such technologies that will change the way they do their work – and rightly so.

It is all about change. I grew up reading that change is inevitable. That it is good for you. A little change always helps. That one should always be ready to adapt to changing circumstances. Now, practices can choose to stay the same and not move forward. They can choose to believe that if they keep doing things the way they have been doing them, everything will be all right. As much as I wish that was the case, and that using paper, and having a traditional by-the-book workflow at the practice could work forever – that is not the case. Really.

Let me tell you what will happen If you remain adamant and never try to implement an EHR at your practice. You will become obsolete. Yes. You will lose out in the race with your competitor practices. More than half the physicians in the country will be using interoperable Electronic Health Records that would be connected with laboratories as well as pharmacies across the countries, getting their Meaningful Use incentives and getting certified along the way. You, on the other hand, will be writing scribbled notes on post-it notes and using paper for most modes of transactional communication. Even though, using paper might not be bad in itself, it will keep you from improving, from getting cost efficiencies that paper will never allow.

Read more: 9 Steps to Successful EHR Implementation

What general surgeons need from their health it software

Every physician has a specific specialty which has its own unique set of challenges. As a result, it requires different software capabilities. So what is the most ideal health IT software for general surgeons? Let’s take a look.

State of General Surgery

General surgeons primarily focus on diagnosing, managing and performing operations for conditions located in the gastrointestinal tract, abdomen, endocrine system, breasts, blood vessels, skin and soft tissue.

On average, 42% of general surgeons suffer from physician burnout – the 7th highest percentage among physician specialties. The primary reasons cited include excessive bureaucratic tasks, lengthy work hours and the oncoming impacts of the Affordable Care Act.

What functionality general surgeons require?

General surgeons provide a wide range of care and hence, require a unique set of needs when it comes to the software they use to treat their patients.

Because general surgeons tend to split their time between different locations, portability of patient info is extremely important. Cloud-based EHRs come in handy in this regard as they can be accessed via any computer with an Internet connection.

The ability to read and send lab results is also critical to general surgeons. Their EHR needs to be able to easily access results for pre-surgery blood tests, Partial Thromboplastic Time and complete blood counts (CBCs).

The breadth of specialty means a large volume of new codes to learn under ICD-10, so general surgeons require a PM system equipped to handle the arrival of an estimated 60,000 new medical codes. In fact, general surgeons should consider outsourcing medical billing to an external agency to alleviate the burden of ICD-10.

A quality EHR can organize patient encounters into one, easy to access location, leading to better patient results for specialists. If you’re a family physician in the market for a new EHR, download this whitepaper today for answers to your most challenging questions.

Things to look for when evaluating an EMR Software

Practices need to evaluate the different kinds of EHR/EMR Software available in the market before making up their mind about a certain EMR System. Some of the tips needed in evaluating the EMR Software are mentioned below:

• Know the company

You need to read and find out what others are saying about the company? Forums, message boards as well as review websites usually talk about the EMR companies both positively and negatively. Read the customer feedback as it helps you know the issues and qualities related with the certain EMR. Google keywords such as EMR, EHR companies appearing in the top results are usually the ones that are popular among the clients and get a lot of traffic.

• Focus of the Company

Find out if a particular company focus on only one specific specialty (i.e. Rheumatology, Chiropractic, Neurology etc ) or they try to cater everyone? Opt for those EMR companies that focus on a particular specialty or offer specialty specific EMR. Rather than those companies that offer EMR for all the services and specialties.

• Beta Mode

When a company is in the Beta testing mode it refers to customers using the product and giving feedback to the company. If company is in Beta Mode ask how long they have been in Beta Mode. A long Beta period such as3 -5 months indicates a product that is not well received by the customers and is there are many bugs and issues associated with the product.

• Growth Charts

Find out the growth the company had in recent years. Being in the business for a long time does not necessarily mean the product is good. Which company you would rather choose: a company that is in the business for 20 years with 8000 users or a company that is doing business for 3 years with 5000 users. The latter system has received much better growth than and is well-known. Whereas the former company has a slow growth line or their users are declining. Neither of this is good for the users of that system.

• Retention Ratio

Retention ratio refers to how many users are still using the system compared to the ones that leave. No single system works well for everyone so after a certain time each system will have a decline in its users. Tricky part is to find the retention ratio. It is usually determined based on the term of the contract. Let’s say in a company with one year contract 900 users renew this year and 135 users quits this will equals to a retention rate of 85%. Anything above 90% is good and above 95% means company has a strong future.

• Company size

The size of the company’s team will help give clue about the ability of the company to grow. Look for those companies that have well defined separate sales and support teams. As this will not only keeps the users satisfied with the service but indicates that the company has the ability to pay several people rather than one or two. How to tell if the sales and support are different in a company? Call the support number and check if the same person answers the call. Look for the companies that grow their teams.

• Solvency

Look for a company that is solvent as it will spend more on the marketing as they want to grow. This will quality marketing material such as good website, recent blog posts, regular press releases as well as advertisements in the Industry. If a certain company has a website and it looks outdated, it signals a trouble for the company as it would cost a lot of money to have a dynamic and running website. The overall branding of the EMR Company will provide clue to the solvency power of the company

Keep an eye on these indicators and take out those companies from the lists that do not meet the criteria. As it will get much easier to manage a decision that makes you comfortable

Best EMR by practice size

Latest research figures suggest there are as many as 2,000 EMR companies in the US. A large part of these companies are catering to solo providers while others are offering solutions for small, medium and large practices. Quite a small part of these providers are also catering to hospitals. On average, a small practice usually contains 2 to 5 providers while a medium sized practice will have up to 25 providers. For hospitals, the provider number usually goes up to 100.

So in case you are a provider looking to make the big shift to healthcare IT or just want to break away from your current EMR system, you will want to move to the best option you have based on your practice size. However, it is easy for practices to lose track of what they actually want when they enter the EMR market looking for their new system. EMR vendors these days sugarcoat their products in a way that they appear very appealing to the potential buyers. However, providers often regret their decisions when the system is put to practice in real life. They struggle to keep their workflows smooth and are left with spending more time in front of a computer rather than on a patient.

So let’s give you some of the best EMR vendors available out there in the market which guarantee you choose the right product for your practice and do not regret your investment later on.

Best EMR for solo providers

1.       CureMD 

One of the most experienced vendors out there in the market, CureMD has been catering to solo providers for over 17 years. It is the pioneer of cloud-based EMR and offers a complete solution for providers including practice management and billing services as well. As of now, it is serving over 100,000 users across 52 states representing a mix of over 30 specialties.

In addition to the core services, CureMD now also offers an iPad EMR offering a multitude of features such as enterprise scheduling, patient profile, clinical review, insurances, etc. Furthermore, it offers a complete patient portal and the ability to electronically prescribe medications whenever a physician requires.

As per Research, CureMD has a 52% user satisfaction ranking, by far one of the best averages in the industry. Compared to some other big names in the market, it really excels in customer support as users have the ability to put in complaint tickets and are responded to by the client services executives in no time. Other than that, users of CureMD EMR are really happy with the way company is moving forward in terms of its design, usability, functionality and reliability.

2.       e-MDs

e-MDs is another vendor which is counted amongst one of the experienced health IT vendors in the market. Catering to solo and small practices, e-MDs offers EMR and billing solutions as part of its package. While it does not offer a standalone practice management software, it does have the ability to incorporate enterprise scheduling, document management and mobile charting facilities.

e-MDs is catering to over 20 specialties and enables providers to attest for Meaningful Use Stage 2 as well. Like CureMD, e-MDs is also cloud-based and offers an iPad based solution for its users.

Based on Research, it also has a very high (52%) customer satisfaction ranking and one of most important benefits as per users is the ability to finish their work on time. However, among some of the issues users are talking about e-MDs are low system reliability, charging for every system upgrade, lab integration issues and their inability to innovate.

3.       Amazing charts

Amazing Charts is another vendor which is catering to solo, small and medium practices across the United States. Frequently ranked amongst the top 20 EMR vendors by Black Book Rankings survey 2013 and Medscape, Amazing Charts offers EMR and Practice Management solution along with billing services. In addition to the basic services, Amazing Charts supports scheduling, messaging, e-prescribing and reporting tools.

Although not ready for ICD-10 yet, Amazing Charts does offer patient portal and lab integration with medical devices.

However, it is important to give an unbiased insight into our favorite EMRs. As per Research, Amazing Charts has a 50% overall user satisfaction ranking but some users complain of issues in the customer support.

Best EMR for 2-5 providers

1.       CureMD

In the category of 2-5 providers, CureMD once again ranks as our favorite. It is virtually the best system you can get for your practice. One of the best features for you as a provider is it is ready to meet ICD-10 and Meaningful Use Stage 2 challenges and can really help you transform your workflows with ease.

With a five star usability ranking and HIPAA compliance, CureMD offers fast track implementation and KPI dashboards. In addition to this, CureMD billing reduces cost to collect payments per procedure and major reductions in Accounts Receivable days.

However, the best reason to choose CureMD is its proven track record of innovation and corporate stability. It offers free updates and guarantees 99% uptime. In addition, it offers fast track implementation, training, support and data backup/migration services to its customers.

2.       Athena Health

Athena Health is another EMR vendor which is hugely famous in the industry with its state-of-the-art cloud-based EMR and Practice Management solutions. Although a bit on the expensive side, it is an ideal solution for small and medium practices. According to Capterra, Athena Health ranks number 5 in terms of popularity. While Athena Health offers EMR and PM solutions, it does not offer billing services to its clients.

Amongst some of the top features as listed by the users on Research are robust interface, complete integration the personal support and feedback they get from the staff at Athena Health.

On the flipside, some users complain of interoperability and interfacing issues with Athena Health clinicals.

 3.       Aprima Medical Software

Aprima is another Health IT vendor that is ideally suited for small and medium practices, offering Electronic Medical Records, Practice Management and Revenue Cycle Management solutions. Like other products in the category, Aprima is also ideally suited if you have a practice comprising of 2-5 providers.

Ready for Meaningful Use Stage 2, Aprima offers the facility of e-Prescribing, PQRS, Patient Portal, Drug Database, Interfacing, Document Management, etc. in its product for users.

Looking at the user feedback of Aprima from Research, users are complaining of mistrust on the company, not delivering the solution they promised initially, interfacing issues, performance issues, navigation issues and reliability issues.

However, Aprima has also been lauded for its flexibility, usability, customizable templates and inexpensive solution. Another area for which Aprima has received a lot of recognition is their support and physician acceptance.

Best EMR for 6-10 providers

1.       Epic

One of the biggest EMR companies in the industry, Epic serves over 230,000 users. (source: Capterra) It is suited for medium to large practices and caters to hospitals as well. Although it is a bit expensive, it offers server-based Ambulatory EMR and Practice Management solutions for providers. For Hospitals, it offers Inpatient EMR, Patient Accounting and Management and an integrated, Ambulatory EMR as well.

Epic has consistently been ranked amongst the top EMR providers in the country and has an overall satisfaction level of 85% in terms of sales, implementation, training, functionality, service and support. Users really appreciate the way Epic delivers its solutions and facilities. However, on the other hand, some users have complained frequently about the user interface of the product, which they say is old and below par implementation of the system.

2.       CureMD

The second best product which you can look to buy if you are serving up to 10 physicians is CureMD (http://www.curemd.com). Although we have talked at length at how this product is ideally suited for small to medium range practices, it is even suitable if you are serving more than that.

CureMD uses a single platform, single database architecture for its Electronic Medical Records and Practice Management solutions, allowing for a more robust, integrated and reliable package. On top of all, it is completely cloud-based, meaning that any user can access the CureMD application from virtually any device sitting in any part of the country and use the enterprise-grade solutions.

With an overall product score of 83% in Research, CureMD certainly ranks amongst the top EMR vendors in the country and is looking to be even better with its innovations and solutions designed to meet the challenges of the future.

CureMD users really appreciate the robust integration with labs and the user-friendliness of its EMR In addition, it offers the best mix of enterprise-class features at the most affordable price.

3.       AdvancedMD

Here is another product which is suited for medium to large practices and offers a great mix of products. It is offering a cloud-based solution comprising of Electronic Health Records, Practice Management and billing solutions. Ranked at number 12 on the list of most popular EMR vendors, AdvancedMD has a 78% customer satisfaction.

Although it is catering to only six specialties ranging from OB/GYN, Pediatrics, Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular to Pain Management, the vendor has quite a high user dissatisfaction level as far as Research is concerned. As of now, it has a overall user satisfaction level of only 38% while 52% of the clients are very dissatisfied with the product.

Their iPad app is also being rated as very basic and not being able to let physicians perform important tasks.

Best EMR for 11-25 providers

1.       GE Healthcare

Let’s now shift our attention to some of the big players in the market. GE Healthcare leads the way for systems built for the mass market. It is primarily catering to medium to large practices and hospitals. GE Healthcare, because of its massive backing from the multi-billion dollar parent company General Electric, has been able to cater to the top end of market.

GE Healthcare is offering solutions at a very minimal cost compared to some of the other products available in the market. However, their solution is not cloud-based and requires installation of a dedicated server to use the product.

On the other hand, GE Healthcare offers a wide range of products ranging from real-time location systems to practice management to ambulatory EMR to radiology and claims/clearinghouse facilities.

In addition, GE Healthcare also provides large scale health organizations with Enterprise Resource Planner (ERP) systems.

 2.       CureMD

Once again, our favorite EMR vendor CureMD makes the cut in this list as well. Over the years, as an independent observer, I have personally noticed how CureMD has catered to the mid market segment despite having a product that is ideally suited for up to medium sized practices.

The ability of CureMD to reduce cognitive overload, catering to specialty workflows and unique clinical approaches make it a perfect fit for your practice which caters to up to 25 providers.

The best feature is its ability to provide evidence based knowledge, rich specialty content and custom forms. It has a simple and intuitive user interface with automated history and default data import features. These protocols simplify and standardize care delivery and expedite encounter documentation.

On top of all, it is one solution that is completely interoperable in the truest sense of the word. It is able to connect with health information exchanges, labs, pharmacies, payers, imaging services, hospitals networks, referring providers and patients seamlessly.

3.       Practice Fusion

Practice Fusion ranks third in our list of health IT vendors which are offering solutions for practices catering up to 25 providers. The biggest advantage of using a Practice Fusion solution is that it is completely free of charge and does not require any fee for its setup.

A completely cloud-based solution, Practice Fusion is offering support for over 40 specialties in its EMR product. Additionally, it is offering lab integration, imaging services, support for pharmacies, ACOs, and billing solutions for its customers.

However, like they say, all that glitters is not gold and same is the case with Practice Fusion. Research suggests that a whopping 52% of its customers are unhappy with the product they are using. One of the biggest complaints users most frequently have is the limited functionality it offers when put to practice.

Best EMR for 26-100 providers

1.       eClinicalWorks

Arguably the best EMR vendor for large scale practices, eClinicalWorks has got it all. Offering server and cloud-based solutions, eClinicalWorks is catering practices ranging from solo providers to large scale hospitals. With over 370,000 users (source: Capterra), eClinicalWorks offers solutions at a very reasonable cost, starting from $449/month.

In its product, eClinicalWorks is offering Electronic Medical Records, Practice Management, Patient Portal and Billing services for its clients. Additionally, it is offering industry standard features such as Meaningful Use dashboards, Registry reporting, ePrescribing and Formulary checks, etc.

However, the situation as per Research is not all that rosy. A whopping 49% of its users are dissatisfied with its services with only 41% satisfied.

2.       McKesson

In terms of popularity, McKesson is perhaps the only one who matches eClinicalWorks through its cloud and server-based solution, albeit at a higher price. Like its competitor, McKesson is also catering for all types of medical practices ranging from solo to large scale ones including hospitals. With over 200,000 users, McKesson is by far one of the largest providers of EMR solutions across the US.

It is offering a patient-centered hospital information management system along with a practice management solution. With advanced features such as population health management, diagnostic imaging and enterprise intelligence, McKesson certainly covers all ends of the health IT market.

However, as per Research, McKesson is below par in terms of usability and overall vendor software average with a score just above 70. Quite shockingly, 61% of the users are dissatisfied with the solution McKesson is offering. Amongst some of the problem areas are poor customer support, and the product being terrible overall.

 3.       CureMD

Last but certainly not the least, and as clearly evident from the two top-end solutions designed for large scale practices, sometimes the biggest vendor is unable to deliver the solution that you are looking for. If the system is not improving physician workflows and they are unable to chart the way they do in real life, it is of no use. This is why CureMD ranks once again with the top end solutions as far as we are concerned. Their All-in-One solution is not expensive, built on solid grounds and is very intuitive and user friendly. On top of all, it works flawlessly with all medical devices and has superb lab, radiology and pharmacy integration.

Although designed to cater only to the small and medium practices, CureMD certainly has the infrastructure, vision, technology, support and experience to handle large scale practices and deliver a solution unlike other health IT vendors.

With this final classification, it brings us to the end of our discussion of selecting the best EMR by practice size in the United States. Depending on your medical practice, any of these systems can be a good fit for you. However, shifting to technology is never easy and takes a certain amount of time before its benefits can be fully realized.

International Classification of Diseases: The history

Classification of diseases is a challenge, and will continue to be, as new complexities and developments arise in the classification.

Let’s have a look at the history of healthcare industry’s momentous push towards classification of diseases.

Early History: ICD’s history is old, very old. Sir George Knibbs, an Australian statistician credits François Bossier de Lacroix of first classifying diseases systemically. The classification of disease in most general use was introduced by William Cullen and was published in 1785 under the title Synopsis nosologiae methodicae. A statistical study began by John Graunt was revolutionary as he attempted to estimate the proportion of children who died before reaching the age of six years. Before him, no type of medical diseases classification record was available. He classified the deaths as thrush, convulsions, rickets, teeth and worms. In 1837, William Farr labored to solve the problem of imperfect classification and tried to introduce some sort of international uniformity. Farr kept on improving the system and along with Marc d’Espine, both presented their own classification methods. Farr classified diseases under five groups according to anatomical site while d’Espine divided the diseases by nature. Farr’s model was revised multiple times in 1874, 1880, and 1886. Farr’s principle of classifying diseases by anatomical site survived. It became the basis of the International List of Causes of Death.

Adoption of the International List of Causes of Death took considerable time.  In 1891, preparation of a classification of causes of death was approved by the committee that the International Statistical Institute had organized. Three classifications were approved: the first, an abridged classification of 44 titles; the second, a classification of 99 titles; and the third, a classification of 161 titles. It was called The Bertillon Classification of Causes of Death and was adopted in several countries. It was further decided that revision will be made every ten years.

The French Government in August 1900 convened the first International Conference for the Revision of the Bertillon or International List of Causes of Death. On August 21, 1900, a classification of causes of death consisting of 179 groups; and an abridged classification of 35 groups were authorized and adopted by several countries. After further revisions in subsequent years: 1910, and 1920; and with The Health Organization of the League of Nations’ active interest, “Mixed Commission” was formed which helped approve a revision in 1938 of the International List of Causes of Death.

Countries participating in the classification of diseases, found that the list of causes of death does not take into account the morbidity data. As a result, a Standard Morbidity Code was prepared by the Dominion Council of Health of Canada and published in 1936. Subsequent improved followed in different countries.

Many technical innovations followed. An optional alternative method of classifying diagnostic statements called dagger and asterisk system was introduced, the idea was to include the general user in the development process of the classification. The World Health Organization Collaborating Centres for Classification of Diseases stepped in to prepare the new model of classification that includes ICD-9 and ICD-10. The classification system is complex enough to classify 14,000 and 68,000 codes respectively.

The historical development took its time. But the goal has allows been the same, to make complex process of classification simpler. The new coding system is another step in the writing the new history in a positive light.

How can physicians improve employee satisfaction at their practice?

In the service industry, it is crucial that organizations spend more on staff. The average payroll cost this year for Major League Baseball is 45% of the combined team revenue. That’s nearly half of what the team is earning throughout the season. According to the National Society of Certified Healthcare Business Consultants, roughly half of a practice’s operating costs are spent on staff.

Click here to learn about a state-of-the-art Electronic Health Record (EHR) solution from CureMD designed to improve workflows for physicians.

Physicians are highly trained and skilled individuals but quite a few of them suffer with their employee management skills. They are often ill-prepared and sometimes withdrawn to hire, train, manage or fire staff. So what are the most ideal ways to managing a practice’s most expensive and most required asset? Let’s discuss.

1. Know what you need: It is important to have written personnel policies for the practice. Everyone needs to know the entire flow and function of a practice in order to be expected to perform up to the required levels.
2. Know how to hire: Hiring someone who is very skilled but does not have the required skills will not get you anywhere. It is important to get the right person with the right attitude. See how the resource has been doing in his/her past experiences to be able to predict future behavior.
3. Train for results: Many practices fail to train their staff adequately. It is important to realize that you have to provide required training and then expect results.
4. Create performance expectations: Items such as dress code, work schedule adherence and HIPAA compliance are requirements of the job where failure to adhere results in termination. Remember, ongoing specific feedback is important for not only you but also for the staff.
5. Conduct purposeful reviews: Constantly reviewing and measuring performing against set benchmarks is crucial for success. You need to make sure that you inform the staff about their performance levels regularly in order to keep the performance up to the mark.
6. Be consistent: Don’t change policies every now and then. If you have established a set policy for the whole staff to follow, stick with it.
7. Praise publicly, give private feedback: It is important to give feedback to an employee privately if it is a negative one. Respecting someone in the public will go a long way in improving job satisfaction.
8. Motivate: In case nothing is working in case of an employee at your practice, try some unique motivational techniques to get the job done.

If all else fails, then maybe it is time to let the employee go. Remember, it is as important to let go of a sub-par employee as making your practice a success.

What to ask about your EMR Vendor?

One of the most underutilized methods of evaluating and selecting an EMR software has to be the collection of EMR references. How would you want to get into a contract that spans over multiple years if you cannot buy a laptop without conducting some research first? It’s not a wise choice to simply rely on what was promised by the company.

Apart from the identification of various tips and tricks to better utilize such systems, user feedback can help physicians get a holistic view of the product, which is imperative for new providers to experience.

Ideally, physicians should participate with their staff, although for higher productivity, work can be split between staff members. This would essentially allow participants to evaluate questions and answers and get to the solution themselves, enabling a better understanding for the overall system and establishing peer to peer level of communication between them. Visiting the reference site in person or conversing over the phone may help in providing a more personalized outlook, while the practice may adopt multiple ways of communication, ensuring a better understanding between them in reference to the issues each user experiences.

Physicians should also make sure that they find other practices by joining user communities or professional societies and ask about their experience with the vendor in question. Once that has been done, the following questionnaire can help in determining if your desired vendor is worth the time and investment.

1. How long has the practice been using the EMR solution?
2. How long did it take for the implementation to complete?
3. How was the implementation experience?
4. How long was the training process?
5. Were the allocated training hours adequate?
6. Did the application appear to be as easy as seen in the demonstration?
7. How much of the annotation process is templates driven?
8. Has the documentation process improved since implementation?
9. How many patients were seen in a day before and after the implementation?
10. How would they rate the quality of the exam note? Pre and Post implementation.
11. Has the use of paper charts been completely eliminated?
12. Did they consider or use scribes? If yes, what about the cost and quality?
13. How would they rate their overall experience? And would they recommend the EMR to another practice?

The above list, tells you the main questions you can ask about your vendor, but it is by no means the ideal list or should be used as it is. You should always know what you want with your vendor, and cater your list and questions based upon what you require from them, by asking if the services they provided to different physicians and practices had been satisfactory or not.

EMR and Healthcare Quality

Provision of quality healthcare has long been the rationale behind Electronic Medical Records and their usage. With the automation of medical records, the healthcare community seeks to establish the use of dynamic health information. Analyzing healthcare data can help providers track core issues and derive plausible solutions. Interoperability of healthcare information would not only enhance medical response time, but would also ensure quality care.

Comprising of all the relevant patient health information, the primary objective is to create a single unified record.  Electronic Medical Records can compile the complete medical history of patients, without the physicians having to search for them manually.

Jon White, Director of Health Information Technology of the Federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality says, “The promise is that they’re going to help us deliver better care with better outcomes. But you can’t just have an EMR you have to learn to use the tools in the right way.”

Electronic Medical Record softwares are interoperable with commonly used medical devices and equipments as the age of mobile connectivity is upon us. EMRs can virtually store patient test images for later retrieval or electronic sharing. Through utilization of integrated PACs, interfacing with labs and pharmacies allow for instant access to test results, adding convenience for both the physician and the patient by eliminating test duplication.

Effectively connecting the healthcare sector, Electronic Medical Record Software are enabling new channels of communication and collaboration with enhanced information storage, access and dissemination capability. EMRs have overcome most of the bottlenecks associated with healthcare, although its use still remains limited. However, the full potential of Electronic Medical Records are yet to be realized.