The popularity of Electronic Health Records (EHRs) is growing globally. Public health organizations and governments are enhancing technology and innovation to deliver better health services.

In addition, EHR systems are critical to improving patient satisfaction in healthcare. Depending on the system and its implementation, patient satisfaction with the EHR can affect patient retention rates positively or negatively. A good user experience allows doctors to focus on patients instead of paperwork.

This article discusses the impact of EHRs on the quality of care and how they affect patient satisfaction and retention.

What is the impact of EHR on the quality of care?

According to a university study, using EHRs improves the quality of patient care. Having patients access their own EHRs will become a mainstream feature of healthcare systems in the near future.

Additionally, EHRs improve healthcare delivery on many levels, such as:

• Facilitate diagnosis and claim submission by improving the accuracy of documentation
• Management of medication in one location and alerts for drug interactions
• Automated alerts that notify potential risks to begin treatments immediately
• Easier and more effective integration of evidence-based clinical guidelines
• Make point-of-care decisions easier by providing more outstanding support
• Easily track and implement preventive care

As a result, EHRs provide more secure storage and analysis of medical records, allowing you to create reports more quickly, explore trends more in-depth, and control inventory more efficiently.

Meanwhile, the federal government has invested over $30 billion in adopting and implementing EHRs for healthcare practices to improve patient care. Thus, it is essential not to underestimate the importance of EHR at this point.

The 5 Tools on How EHRs Affect Patient Satisfaction and Retention

1. Patient Healthcare App 

For patients to receive the best possible care, they must be the priority. However, a limited view of their health plan may discourage them from participating in their healthcare journey.

You must integrate a smartphone and tablet-compatible patient healthcare application if this is the case. The app should enable the storing of patient medical records, data management, treatments, and lab results. Patients can easily view and monitor their health records online without visiting the hospital.

By using the app, healthcare providers can deliver care outside traditional settings. Besides improving patient health and retention, it makes you more productive.

2. Patient Self-Booking Feature 

One of the most common tasks in medical practices is scheduling patients, and it can also affect your success in the long run. However, most patients miss their doctor’s appointments due to busy schedules. Why does this issue occur? Patients can’t attend to their health needs mainly due to work obligations.

According to a survey, almost half of U.S. workers feel stress daily at work, and 60% have felt it more often over the past five years. 

Another concern is that most patients lack transportation, so they rarely go to the doctor—particularly those who live in distant cities and with poor public transit. While elderly patients can ride the subway or bus system, they may have difficulty walking once dropped off.

Therefore, your EHR should have a patient self-scheduling feature to avoid these situations. Optimizing appointment reminder solutions, which detail how long the appointment will last, can help medical facilities better cater to patients’ busy schedules. In addition, people who live long distances can set their schedules anytime and anywhere via the internet.

Generally, online scheduling can increase patient satisfaction and offer greater convenience to practices and providers.

3. Efficient Check-In Process 

Providing a great patient experience begins with the check-in process. If you still use paper for your patients, this may take too much time, resulting in delayed appointments and crowded waiting rooms. Indeed, current patient check-in processes in medical practices are prone to error & inefficiency. 

That’s why you need an EHR with an automated patient check-in system. It is a system that can benefit staff and patients. For example, front office staff handle patient registration, respond to inquiries, and manage queues. So, it is possible to automate many of these processes, such as routine and after-hours inquiries. 

Meanwhile, it’s also essential to maintain a smooth patient flow. Due to the stacking of appointments, any delay in one can affect all the rest. Automating your check-in process can drastically increase your healthcare practice’s patient satisfaction and retention rate.

4. Patient Portal

Adopting an EHR with an integrated patient portal is the right choice for hospitals and healthcare practices. With a patient portal, patients can pay their bills online via smartphones. It also eliminates the need to mail paper statements or make phone calls to patients, allowing you to collect payments faster.

Patient portals that allow patients to pay bills online benefit practices financially and improve patient satisfaction and retention rates.

5. Exchange of Information

The patient portal allows patients to share their EHR patient health information (CCDA File) with specialists or other providers. CCDA stands for Consolidated Clinical Document Architecture. It is a complete architecture that provides a full set of templates and methodologies for creating documents. With its HL7 format, health IT systems and EHRs can process documents while allowing people to access them on mobile devices.

Hospitals, clinics, and regulatory agencies use CCDA. It ensures that any EHR system can read patient records. Thus, providing patients access to their records reduces the time and resources other providers and patients spend searching for documents.

Choose the Top EMR/EHR Software 

EHRs provide physicians with opportunities to improve their patient care. These five tools for your EHR can check for issues or allergies when prescribing new medications, uncover potential safety problems, and even identify operational issues through alerts and reminders. Get your EHR today!

Over the years, we are one of the qualified EMR software providers who assisted medical practices with EHR/EMR selection, implementation, and software usage. Fully Integrated Solutions are available for Podiatry Software Services, Sleep Medicine EHR, and Ambulatory Surgery Centers (ASCs) EMR. If you want to get the best EHR for pain management, we got it for you.

Furthermore, we specialize in providing customized EMR/EHR software to meet your practice’s specific needs. Schedule a demo or contact us through the contact form for more personalized information. Let’s work together to find the best software for your practice!

Do you have a favorite EHR add-on service? You are free to comment below!

Over the last decade, the medical industry has undergone numerous changes. Likewise, physicians know that keeping up with the advancements of the electronic era in health care requires sophisticated technology. Among the systems that have steadily improved over time is the Electronic Health Record (EHR). 

An EHR is necessary to effectively run and keep accurate health records to offer comprehensive and timely care when it comes to pain management practices. This improved care involves using and exchanging health data among or within healthcare institutions mandated by the federal government. However, there will always be common EHR systems with challenges, such as the implementation process.

The purpose of this article is to discuss the most common pain medicine EHR struggles of pain management practices that providers encounter as well as solutions to those problems.

5 Most Common EHR Struggles of Pain Management Practices

1. The Cost of Implementation

When purchasing a pain management EHR it is important to do your research and find an EHR provider that will help you along your EHR implementation journey and find the best practice management software for your pain clinic. The last thing you want to do is spend money on an EHR and the additional cost of time trying to figure out how to use it.

A recent study estimated that providers spend a significant amount of money not only on purchasing electronic health records (EHRs) but on additional services and implementation. It is not surprising that electronic health records are expensive, though it is critical to have a team that offers support during this translation and makes the cost justifiable.

On the other hand, the optimization, selection, and implementation of EHRs will consume the most capital budget expenditure.

Practice management software installation for EHRs consists of five steps:

• Hardware setup
• Software purchase
• Implementation support
• Staff training
• Ongoing network fees.
  

However, unexpected costs may occur during implementation In particular, for smaller practices and organizations, financing is one of the significant barriers to installing an EHR.

2. Privacy and Security of Patient Information

Pain management practices are not the only ones concerned about keeping patient data secure in their EHRs. In a 2018 report by HIPAA Journal, data breaches affecting 500 or more healthcare records occurred on average once per day.

Data breaches in healthcare are notorious for inflicting hefty penalties on organizations and individuals who commit them. A security breach might also result in legal action against the company and millions of dollars in compensation. 

Therefore, healthcare providers must educate themselves on how to mitigate cybersecurity risks and protect patient information before integrating an EHR system.

3. Miscommunication

There are now over 99% of practices using certified EHRs for important clinical decisions. In pain management practices, this new technology must support effective communication.

On the other hand, one of the most common EHR practice management software problems is internal miscommunication. For example, clinical communication failures result from clinicians not communicating important information about a patient’s symptoms or condition or failing to document it properly.

Thus, the inability to assess the severity of a patient’s condition can result in incorrect treatment decisions and delays in treatment.

4. Data Interoperability

Efficiently providing care relies on sharing clinical data within the organization and with other providers. However, healthcare providers still struggle to share data despite government incentives and regulations. EHRs are particularly prone to this.

A recent study revealed that close to 32% of patients who visited their doctors in the 12 months prior to the research reported a visible gap in information exchange.

Thus, interoperability issues cause healthcare providers problems with practice management and can negatively impact patient satisfaction.

5. Training

Training employees thoroughly on the new process before deploying the pain management EHR system is essential. Medical staff must devote significant time and effort to learning the new format. Neither staff nor management enjoys this time-consuming and inconvenient process. 

The most common concern among low- and medium-sized businesses during the training stage is losing business. 

Essential EHR Solutions for Pain Management Practices

• Managing Inpatient Discomfort With Pain Assessments.

The use of assessments can help healthcare providers better understand a patient’s pain tolerance. When we document the patient’s pain scale in the pain medicine EHR and learn about effective measures they’ve used to manage pain, it’s easier to teach them when narcotics should be prescribed instead of acetaminophen or ibuprofen. The pain management EHR also allows providers to automatically schedule reassessments after administering pain medication to monitor its effectiveness.

• Provide Education to Patients Across All Settings of Care.

Several physician practices are hiring case managers to educate patients about safe pain management options and the dangers of overusing and misusing opioids. Narcotic withdrawal counseling should be provided to all surgical and inpatient patients. In addition, it has been shown that integrating this information in discharge instructions improves outcomes compared with generic, canned answers such as “Take prescribed medication to keep your pain level under control.”

• Determine the Most Effective Methods of Pain Management.

Clinical decision support strategies using pharmacogenomics enable clinicians to provide pain relief tailored to each patient’s unique needs, resulting in a quicker recovery and reduced reliance on narcotics. For instance, DNA mapping can help determine which pain medications are most appropriate for a patient post-surgery. It can also alert providers if a pain medication selected for a patient is deemed ineffective based on their DNA profile.

Get the best EHR for your Pain Management Practice.

Once you implement and use a new electronic health records system, your pain management practice will become more streamlined and efficient. Prepare for possible pitfalls when your employees use your new pain management EHR.

Choose the Top EMR/EHR Software 

Over the years, we have assisted medical practices with physical medicine EMR/EHR selection, implementation, and software usage. We specialize in providing customized EMR/EHR practice management software to meet your practice’s specific needs.

Schedule a demo or contact us through the contact form for more personalized information. Let’s work together to find the best software for your practice!

Do you have a favorite EHR add-on service? You are free to comment below!

For pain doctors, efficiency and practicality are crucial to patient care. Whether it is pain medicine, anesthesiology, or neurology, pain specialists recognize the importance of taking a comprehensive approach to evaluating and treating patients.

For this reason, pain management practices need to adopt Electronic Health Records (EHRs) equipped with the most effective tools found in pain medicine EHRs. 

In this article, we explore why pain doctors need better pain management EHR tools and the importance of their role.

3 Common Problems of Pain Doctors Inside Their Clinics

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 20.4% of U.S. adults suffer chronic pain, while 8.0% suffer from high-impact chronic pain. 

Physicians may find this study helpful in focusing on pain management interventions.

However, some issues can hinder pain doctors’ efforts to manage their patients’ pain.

• Lack of Education.

The education of health care professionals in pain management is still low on the list of priorities despite decades of research identifying unmet global needs. As a result, many providers still lack adequate understanding of the pathophysiology (pain treatment) and the physiologic effects of opioids and nonopioid treatments. The hesitation of staff to trust patients’ perceptions about pain lead patients to seek help elsewhere.

• The Restriction of Opioids.

Some patients with chronic pain may not be able to receive effective pain management due to opioid restrictions and protocols. Pain doctors may also be unable to seek treatment for pain altogether due to mandatory opioid restrictions and protocols for opioid prescribing as well. According to respondents, healthcare providers can become drug gatekeepers if they misuse narcotic medications, which makes them untrustworthy partners in delivering pain management.

Many states across the US  have addressed the issue by legislating pain management and safe opioid prescribing training for providers. EHR access allows physicians to quickly access previous health history and medication use to formulate a new strategy or see a pattern. 

• Physician Burnout

Often, primary care providers who treat chronically ill patients suffer from burnout. It is mainly due to their feelings of incapacity to assist patients suffering from pain.

A pain doctor in a small or solo practice or an independent unit may be more prone to burnout. A financial issue can also accelerate burnout and complicate it in the process. Therefore, it is best to use a holistic approach, consisting of time management and relaxation exercises.

Why is an EHR Important in Pain Management?

Pain management requires a high level of expertise. Many companies now offer EHR solutions. However, most don’t offer specialized types of pain management services.

The purpose of pain management EHRs is to optimize physician performance, reduce risks, and facilitate better decision-making. Patients can also manage their check-in process and communicate with their physicians about their health. For pain doctors, the pain management EHR can streamline clinical workflows and provide accurate records that ensure their patients receive proper and timely treatment.

Why Do Pain Doctors Need Better EHR Tools?

Pain doctors know that not all EHRs are the same, and while generic EHRs lack the documentation tools, it’s difficult for them to diagnose and treat their patients. This is why they must look for a pain medicine EHR that provides the right tools to simplify the management of their patients.

An EHR designed explicitly for the pain management field, such as IMS Pain Management EMR Software, can help provide quality care.

Through this software, pain doctors can improve documentation, access to pain billing software ,patient information access, and effective decision-making for people suffering from pain.

The Best EHR Tools for Pain Management

• Flexible Pain EHR Templates

Customizable, flexible templates in pain management EHRs enable physicians to customize their documentation process to match their workflow or patient. Indeed, pain management providers rely on EHR templates to perform all of their tasks. 

Moreover, templates can significantly reduce the time it takes to document patient visits, findings, referrals, pain billing procedures,  etc. To ensure continuity of care, physicians must use customized templates to chart and enter patient information accurately. They can keep a record of any injections and procedures for future reference. 

• E-Prescription & Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMPs)

According to the American Medical Association Journal of Ethics, e-prescribing is a core feature of CPOE systems that enable clinicians to order diagnostic tests, patient care activities, and referrals in addition to medications. E-prescriptions for pain management are widely used and accepted by pharmacies, clinics, hospitals, and practitioners due to the Electronic Prescriptions for Controlled Substances (EPCS) rule passed on June 1st, 2010, by the DEA. This rule allows the use of modern technology for controlled substance prescriptions. Because we live in a tech-savvy generation, e-prescriptions are often the preferred choice submitted by medical professionals and accepted by pharmacies. It is crucial to implement a pain management EHR that allows for E-prescriptions.  

While prescribing pain medications can be challenging, prescription pain medications can help manage patients’ symptoms. The doctor must carefully monitor all pain medications prescribed and check for any signs of addiction.

Our pain management EHR directly integrates provider access to the Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMPs); the electronic database that monitors controlled substance prescriptions in each state within the US. The feature allows for timely information helpful for prescribing and evaluating patient behaviors to decrease substance abuse treatment admissions. Providers no longer have to use additional browsers or devices to utilize the Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMPs).

Our pain management EHR is a convenient one-stop shop for servicing the patient. 

• Telemedicine

Integrating telemedicine with practice management software like EHRs has become a necessity for pain management. Patients who suffer from chronic pain frequently travel up to an hour to see a clinic. Telemedicine reduces the need for these trips, resulting in the following benefits:

• Providing pain management with a team of pain experts in a convenient and timely manner.
• Having fewer missed work days.
• Local testing and other services are available.
• Reducing stress and pain from long car trips.
• A comprehensive care approach to medical and non-medical care.
• Providing follow-up information without having to visit in person.

• Billing and Collections

Pain management practice can save time by integrating EHR and medical billing systems with pain billing software. Integrated systems can pull visit coding and documentation directly from their pain management EHR, which reduces copying time. Also, EHRs can remind physicians to code and document during visits. As a result, pain providers and billing staff will have less work after each visit. The medical billing specialist can submit claims timely when the documentation is already in the medical billing system.

• Pain Management Patient Healthcare Portal

Registering as a patient while in the clinic can be problematic for those who experience pain. They can start filing immediately by activating the EHR’s patient portal feature. Patients can access their personal health information (PHI) at any time from anywhere through a quality, secure patient portal. Patients can also make payments, schedule appointments, and cancel them through the patient portal.

• Health Follow-up Reminders

Pain management requires full patient involvement and participation. It is necessary to provide regular treatment to those under specific pain management protocols.

Pain management practices can use follow-up reminders when it comes to Urinary drug testing (UDT). UTDs are frequent in the treatment plan for patients who are prescribed opioid therapy for chronic pain. Pain management EHRs can quickly remind your patient of their next UDT.

Nevertheless, a treatment plan’s effectiveness depends on whether individuals follow instructions, take medications,  obtain external tests, and schedule follow-up appointments. It is also possible that the practice will lose revenue from missed appointments. An EHR should provide automated appointment reminders and confirmations and a Patient Portal to increase patient engagement. The patient’s name is added to a follow-up list whenever a follow-up appointment is not scheduled within the agreed-upon timeframe.

The following EHR tools ensure that pain doctors can consistently provide quality healthcare to their patients. Thus, get an EHR that meets the specific needs of your pain management practice. 

Choose the Top EMR/EHR Software 

Over the years, we have assisted medical practices with physical medicine EMR/EHR selection, implementation, and software usage. We specialize in providing customized EMR/EHR software to meet your practice’s specific needs.

Schedule a demo or contact us through the contact form for more personalized information. Let’s work together to find the best software for your practice!

Do you have a favorite EHR add-on service? You are free to comment below!

Technology continues to develop and emerge in healthcare, bringing new innovations to hospitals and clinics. Electronic medical records (EMR) software has automated the most routine and mundane tasks, replacing paper files and manual operations. Healthcare providers can spend their extra time caring for patients instead.

Let’s focus on a particular practice — pain management. An EMR pain management solution has a range of benefits that make it worth investing in.

Why? Consequently, they are incredibly cost-effective while optimizing hospital and practice operations.

The question is, what makes the pain management EHR worth it?

What EHR Software Can Do for You 

In recent studies, 80% of patients experience pain postoperatively, and 11-20% experience severe pain. EHR pain management software can reduce documenting time and provide powerful information that will enable you to make informed decisions. A cloud-based pain management EHR software requires no server hardware to buy, maintain, upgrade, or manage, and it is more mobile. So, look for intuitive user interfaces when evaluating pain management EHRs so you can spend more time with patients and lesser time on documentation.

Meanwhile, not all EHRs are the same. The right EHR should increase patient satisfaction, patient quality of life, and office efficiency for pain management practices. 

If you want the best pain management EHR, make sure it has these features:

• EHR That Provides Access to Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMPs) 

Pain management EHRs nowadays provide access to prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs). Access to PDMPs is especially vital for physicians who prescribe opioids, causing severe family disruptions. 

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released provisional data in November 2021, suggesting 75,673 opioid overdose deaths in the United States in the 12 months ending April 2021. Deaths due to drug overdoses have increased by 28% since pre-pandemic levels. 

PDMP databases should be accessible through your EHR pain platform. You must quickly identify potential drug interactions between patients and controlled substances by searching a patient’s name and demographics. With such data, you can reach out to them, monitor their opioid use, and adjust treatment accordingly. 

Furthermore, the price-transparency feature can show you whether patients qualify for coverage, the extent of their benefits, and their out-of-pocket costs. You can refill or issue prescriptions electronically when the time comes. 

• EHR With Innovative Patient Portal 

Every EHR must have patient portals, but only a few provide the best tools to keep patients engaged. You can provide them with digital intake forms, allowing them to complete the check-in process from the comfort of their own home. Patients will never miss a check-up with scheduling capabilities and reminders that work for them. In addition, a communication hub allows your patients to ask questions whenever they want.

• Integrated Lab Ordering System

With an integrated diagnostic/lab ordering system, you can make better clinical decisions to improve patient outcomes. The right pain management EHR allows providers to order lab tests while charting quickly, and lab results go directly into patient charts without wasting time.  

Pain Management EHR systems with integrated lab ordering capabilities can:

• Inform providers of abnormal lab results.
• Make sure your organization can handle incoming lab results.
• Allow your organization’s providers to identify patients with unusual lab results and target them for follow-up.
• Help your organization order fewer tests since lab results are readily available.
• Make lab tests available electronically, improving care quality.
• EHR adopters say their EHR system has notified them of critical lab conditions in the last 30 days, and 74% can improve patient care with an EHR. With EHRs, you can promote health care quality and properly process and analyze incoming lab results to benefit your patients.
• Meets Meaningful Use requirements by transferring lab orders electronically.

• Specific Templates 

Pain management clinics require specific documentation of patient encounters. Thus, an EHR must include pain management-specific templates.

These tools allow pain management specialists to customize their documenting processes for specific workflows or patients. It is also necessary for annotating pain, procedures, and injection sites. If the template isn’t flexible enough, it can compromise patient data integrity. As a result, treating physicians must be able to chart and record every detail to preserve data integrity and facilitate future decision-making.  

• Mobile-Friendly

Cloud-based technologies facilitate provider mobility while still maintaining patient safety in Pain Management EHRs. With mobile capabilities, your data is more secure and accurate. As the patient’s chart is accessible, providers can make changes during the encounter, resulting in more accurate notes.

Using your Pain Management EHR’s mobile features will also enable your team to communicate with each other in a secure, HIPAA-compliant manner and prescribe to patients as needed.

Do You Have These Features in Your Pain Management EHR Software?

If yes, your EHR has it all to run your practice more efficiently. The IMS Pain Management system is also an excellent choice if your existing EHR isn’t meeting your needs or if you struggle to integrate the above features.

Don’t get left behind! Now is the time to ensure your pain management EHR is worth the investment.

Choose the Top EMR/EHR Software 

Over the years, we have assisted medical practices with EHR/EMR selection, implementation, and software usage. We specialize in providing customized EMR/EHR software to meet your practice’s specific needs.

Schedule a demo or contact us through the contact form for more personalized information. Let’s work together to find the best software for your practice!

Do you have a favorite EHR add-on service? You are free to comment below!

A modernized way to keep patient records electronically is Electronic Health Records (EHR) software. For the majority of modern practices, the medical histories of patients are written on paper and stored in filing cabinets.

With EHR software, physicians can securely share patient information with other authorized medical institutions, laboratories, pharmacies, or specialists, improving patient care and treatment.

Did you know that 78% of physicians with EHRs report that EHRs improve patient care?

In contrast, healthcare software that provides Electronic Medical Records (EMR) solutions can have various features. Let’s look at some of the most talked about EMR and EHR features of 2022. Here we go!

• Telehealth Portals

Whether through email, text message, or in-app notification, most patients prefer electronic communication for paying medical bills. Telehealth portals or other virtual payment methods are even more popular with patients.

With the outbreak of Covid-19, Telehealth has also experienced a rapid growth spurt. Virtual appointments, more artificial intelligence, and increased insurance coverage are expected to be the norm for future health software. 

Despite this, telehealth does more than facilitate appointments. Telehealth portals offer secure access to patient medical records rather than slow, inefficient paper files.

• HIPAA Compliant Software

In 2022, the trend is to adopt an EHR that complies with HIPAA. A patient data protection program is your best guarantee of patient confidentiality and healthcare data integrity.

Furthermore, EHRs with HIPAA compliance software address your practice’s compliance and security needs.

Hence, the HIPAA compliance software must provide the following tools:

• Conduct annual audits of your practice for HIPAA compliance on the administrative, technical, and physical aspects
• Address remediation plans whenever there are compliance violations.
• Built-in privacy and security standards
• Develop Policies and Procedures that meet HIPAA regulatory standards to avoid future compliance violations.
• Manage protected health information (PHI) securely and mitigate liability calls for documenting all vendors with whom you share PHI.
• Notify patients and document the breach if there is a data breach in your practice.

A HIPAA-compliant EHR platform protects your practice and your patient’s data. In this digital and electronic healthcare environment, establishing trust with patients begins with an open discussion about HIPAA compliance.

• Medical Billing Software

Before providing medical services to a patient, you must check their insurance eligibility using an electronic medical billing system. Use it to submit insurance claims and bill patients.

With electronic medical billing, not only can your practice become more HIPAA compliant, but it can also simplify your billing and claims process through various features. You can quickly locate medical billing records without having to sort through piles of paperwork. With its electronic claims management feature, fast billing coding, and revenue management system, you can easily submit claims to insurance companies.

A medical billing system may be bundled with an EHR or practice management system. Software packages like these can be expensive, but they can also be an excellent investment for your practice. Automating data entry, payments, and claim submission simplifies the medical billing process and reduces errors.

• System Integration and Interfaces

A vital part of any EHR solution is its integration — accomplished through interfaces that allow data to move between EHRs in real-time and on-demand.

E-billing systems and hospital information systems (HIS) are two common integration points. You can streamline billing by integrating EMRs with billing software.

Furthermore, it assists in the reduction of coding errors that cause payment delays, resulting in both time and money being lost. Integrating billing systems within EMR solutions used by hospitals and clinical practices can help reimbursements happen faster. The adoption of an EHR system often includes this feature. It speeds up entering the patient information every time a billing cycle occurs, making it one of the most outstanding features of EMR software.

As a result, you can devote more time to patient care and ensure that your operations are as efficient as possible.

• Online Appointment Scheduling 

Employee burnout is at a record high across healthcare practices. A recent survey found that nearly one in five healthcare workers quit their jobs due to the pandemic.

Are there any ways that healthcare practice owners can better support their employees? The solution can involve reducing tedious tasks, increasing valuable tasks, and streamlining office operations. An EHR with online appointment scheduling can be beneficial for the office.

If a practice does not offer online scheduling, front desk staff must juggle more than they can handle. It is exhausting to schedule appointments, respond to incoming phone calls, and assist patients during their visits. Patients’ on-demand convenience preferences are often met via online scheduling systems, and the front desk staff is free to handle more patients during busy times of the week. 

Online scheduling allows staff to focus on other duties for the practice, thus accomplishing more daily.

Key Takeaway

You need to find the right features in the technology that fits your practice when choosing EMR and EHR software. Any clinical management software you use or consider should include these features.

Choose the Top EMR/EHR Software 

Over the years, we have assisted medical practices with EHR/EMR selection, implementation, and software usage. We specialize in providing customized EMR/EHR software to meet your practice’s specific needs.

Schedule a demo or contact us through the contact form for more personalized information. Let’s work together to find the best software for your practice!

Do you have a favorite EHR add-on service? You are free to comment below!

Burnout results from emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment. In the healthcare setting, medical providers can face high emotional demands and workloads that can lead to burnout.

A study found that 40% of physician burnout is linked to electronic health records (EHRs). Moreover, stress, time pressure, a chaotic workplace, and family obligations are factors to consider.

Yet, how can physicians avoid burnout when it comes to EHRs? This article will discuss the five best strategies to utilize EHR to lower physician burnout.

5 Best Strategies to Utilize EHR to Lower Physician Burnout

1. Choose an EHR System With a Specialty-Specific Program

A major cause of physician burnout is a complicated EHR interface not tailored to their specialty.

Non-specialty EHR interfaces are the most common reason for interface failures. If physicians used a non-specialized EHR, they would have to click the mouse multiple times to perform one small task. Over time, this can lead to frustration and physician burnout.

The use of a specialty-specific EHR offers many advantages that:

• Gets rid of useless tools and features to reduce confusion and improve daily EHR usage.
• Improve clinical outcomes for doctors by making the EHR workflow more user-friendly.
• Provides secure access for physicians to patient records that increase patient care quality and treatment.
• Continuous data collection enables personalized care, allowing providers to prevent health problems before they arise.

As a result, providers can boost clinical efficiency and reduce physician burnout by using specialty-specific EHR interfaces that provide only relevant data.

2. Don’t Waste Your Time on Unnecessary EHR Tasks.

In the United States, 86 percent of office-based doctors and 94 percent of hospital doctors currently use EHRs. Despite its intended benefits, EHRs have inadvertently burdened clinicians and have been cited as a cause of physician burnout as well.

That’s why physicians need to eliminate all EHR tasks that are unnecessary.

Optimizing EHRs requires eliminating processes and tasks that interfere with patient care.

Think about the unique aspects of your practice. Do you receive too many alerts? Do you still work when the EHR screens close? Streamlining order entry and simplifying login can all be part of minimizing unnecessary EHR work. Discuss the issue with your colleagues, IT, leadership, and other stakeholders if you need to resolve it quickly.

For example, you can turn off automatic inbox notifications for copied test results and test-order and scheduling confirmations other physicians ordered. You can also set another time for the automatic logout for your EHR system.

Removing unnecessary work may take more time, research, and resources, but it may help lessen physician burnout.

3. Gather Your Thoughts and Share It With Your EHR Provider

A strong customer support team is another strategy to reduce physician burnout.

It is because they will help you get better acquainted with the EHR software and learn how to use it more effectively. Staying in touch with your solution provider can lead to quick tips for improving efficiency.

Your EMR or EHR company cares about your input since their success depends on your product satisfaction. Thus, share your problems with your EHR provider or request to help improve the product for you and other users.

4. Hiring Medical Scribes 

Using scribes in physician practices may help physicians cope with clinical documentation demands. Medical scribes are one of the best methods to reduce physician burnout. They record the details of the patient’s exam – clinical history, complaints, diagnoses, procedures performed, and medical orders (including prescriptions). 

In addition, they help clinicians find and document information faster. It may be costly for practices to hire one, but the increased productivity of doctors due to fewer EHR tasks will offset the expenditure. According to research, medical scribes reduce physician burnout and improve the physician-patient relationship.

5. Provide EHR Staff and Provider Training

EHR implementations, workflow changes, and new health IT modules can drive physicians to frustration. Therefore, the only way to solve this problem is to offer staff EHR training and education so they can efficiently and effectively use EHRs to provide quality patient care.

Learning a new EHR system or health IT module will inevitably slow providers down, reduce clinician productivity, and cause headaches for some as they attempt to adjust to a new way of doing things.

Large health care systems are likely to have their teams of trainers, whereas smaller practices can request training from their EHR vendors.

That’s why investing a few hours a month for staff EHR training by the provider increases efficiency and confidence in using the EHR or EMR. Even while you wait for EHRs to become more user-friendly, you can reduce physician burnout by becoming more comfortable with the software. 

When the clinical staff can use EHR technology in the early days after go-live, it lessens physician burnout and dissatisfaction with EHR usage.

Key Takeaway

The current healthcare market is highly competitive, so these strategies will increase physician ratification and reduce the stress that leads to physician burnout. Additionally, EHRs with properly implemented features produce greater clinical and financial benefits.

Choose the Top EMR/EHR Software 

Over the years, we have assisted medical practices with EHR/EMR selection, implementation, and software usage. We specialize in providing customized EMR/EHR software to meet your practice’s specific needs.

Schedule a demo or contact us through the contact form for more personalized information. Let’s work together to find the best software for your practice!

Do you have a favorite EHR add-on service? You are free to comment below!

Today, interoperability is a crucial determinant of success for healthcare providers. As well as facilitating access to, sharing, and utilizing data, it fosters the goal of optimizing the health of the individual and population.

This article will explain why electronic health record (EHR) interoperability is important.

But what does interoperability actually mean?

The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) defines interoperability as the ability to connect information systems, devices, or applications within and across organizational boundaries in a coordinated manner. When focusing on the health care system, the concept of interoperability enables exchanging and sharing of data from various sources such as hospitals, laboratories, clinics, and medical practices.

The use of specific EHR systems varies among health care systems depending on factors such as the size of facilities and state regulations. Meanwhile, health care facilities need to interact with each other to exchange patient information (and the facilities they encounter often use different EHR systems, making it difficult to exchange data).

By having EHR interoperability, sharing of medical data is easy between different EHRs and providers. It will also guarantee information portability and usability.

5 Benefits of EHR Interoperability

1. Open to Organizational Communication

Organizations can improve communication with other medical facilities by implementing EMR/EHR interoperability. For instance, pharmacies can send clinics e-prescription requests and vice versa. Furthermore, healthcare facilities can fill information gaps faster by making their systems more open to data sharing. EMR interoperability lets healthcare organizations access patient health records without involving calls, emails, and faxes.

2. Patient-Centric

The focus is on patient convenience. People want the freedom to move around the country freely while having their medical records readily available at their local hospitals. Waiting for your medical data from another health care facility can be too much of a hassle. An analysis has also found that 55% of hospitals report robust data exchange due to EHR interoperability.

Using this system, people no longer have to provide details of previous treatment or undergo repeat diagnostics with every new appointment. Their healthcare experience will be more proactive, relevant, and accurate.

3. Lower Healthcare Costs

Interoperable EHRs reduce the administrative burden of healthcare by streamlining and reducing the cost of paperwork, tests, and prescription orders. A synchronized system can send and receive data automatically. Therefore, this provides fewer resources and lower costs than non-inoperable systems.

4. Reduced Errors

The connection between informational systems generally leads to better data quality and fewer errors. Regardless, this is a better option than systems that are not connected and have higher chances of containing duplications and outdated data.

5. Improves Patient Safety 

Regarding interoperability, patient privacy and security should be the primary concerns. Despite its complexity, this process can help ensure patient privacy and security by requiring organizations to fully assess where their protected health information (PHI) resides and who should have access to it. If systems cannot communicate, for instance, it becomes difficult for organizations to keep track of all systems interacting with PHI, as  HIPAA security regulations require.

The interoperability of EHRs provides clinicians with the reassurance that the PHI they input is secure. By entering PHI into a secured system, organizations can better understand where their data resides and who has access to it, enhancing patient privacy and helping them secure their patient data..

Three different levels of EHR Interoperability

Foundational Interoperability: The data exchanged between two systems must not require any interpretation from the receiving system.

Structural Interoperability: This type of interoperability is more complex due to structuring and interpreting data at the individual data field level while ensuring data integrity.

Semantic Interoperability: It enables systems to exchange and interpret information. Hence, this level is highly desired as authorized users can access patient information electronically. 

So, why is EHR interoperability important?

If physicians are unable to access patient information quickly, the uses of patient data will be limited regardless of whether all practices adopt an EHR.

Here’s where interoperability comes in. Interoperability between EHRs is vital since it improves patient outcomes and safety through superior communications between healthcare professionals. Additionally, interoperability allows physicians and nurses to access clinical data regardless of location, enabling them to treat patients anywhere and at any time, whether the data originated inside or outside their health system. 

Patients can move between different healthcare facilities and EHR systems electronically, making it easier for doctors to treat their patients and for healthcare organizations to share patient information.

With increased and seamless interoperability between EHRs, data can be globally shareable, improving patient care and providing more efficient referrals and transfers between providers.

Conclusion

Every healthcare professional should recognize the importance of interoperability. Since wired and wireless networks connect so many technology solutions in government and industry, it’s important to stay on top of developments in interoperability. Get the latest updates by subscribing to our blogs!

Choose the Top EMR/EHR Software 

Over the years, we have assisted medical practices with EHR/EMR selection, implementation, and software usage. We specialize in providing customized EMR/EHR software to meet your practice’s specific needs.

Schedule a demo or contact us through the contact form for more personalized information. Let’s work together to find the best software for your practice!

Do you have a favorite EHR add-on service? You are free to comment below!

Several practices have adopted Electronic Medical Records (EMR) Software over the past few years, and they have become highly essential in healthcare today. EMRs give physicians the data and tools to care for patients more efficiently when appropriately used. 

Although it helps thousands of health clinics operate properly and progress, it also causes problems. For example, how an EHR is designed, customized, or configured is harmful to patients.

In this article, we will discuss EMR and EHR problems and how to solve them.

Problem #1: Data Entry

“Hard stops” are a problem regarding data entry in physician workflows. 

During doctor-patient interaction, there are pauses to document a visit using a computer. To write a clinical note on a keyboard, you need to focus on a computer screen for some time, directly proportional to the notes’ length and details. It may also be difficult or impossible for clinicians to enter EHR data appropriately, resulting in a loss of quality in clinical documentation.

Apply these two solutions:

• Reduce Data Redundancy

The regular revision of forms and reviewing of the entire process, including forms, data, information, and documents, reduces data redundancy. Getting rid of redundant data will eliminate errors creeping into the system.

• Upgrade Your Systems

For data management processes to run smoothly, updating the infrastructure and technologies is essential. Technology upgrades and automation will help you stay on top of the competition. Data entry operators must know how to enable tools to enhance technology and tool functionality whenever necessary.

Problem #2: Standardized Patient Identifiers Across HIEs!

The lack of a National Patient Identifier (NPID) is a major barrier to true interoperability in EHRs. This alphanumeric code would uniquely identify patients within a health register or EHR. However, Congress repealed it because of privacy concerns.

When EHRs are the primary repositories and means of accessing patient and health data, their inability to match patient records across and within healthcare provider settings is a big issue. Thus, many problems will arise, including inflation of healthcare costs and suppression of health outcomes. 

You can solve this through:

• Blockchain for NPID

Blockchain for interoperability is becoming more prevalent to provide a single source of truth for PHI. It is a decentralized technology that enables secure information storage and transfer and could be the foundation for creating the NPID because of:

• It uses public-key infrastructure (PKI) for centralized identification.
• A way for digital access rules and immutable logs
• A provenance for and a capability to provide audit trails. This also reduces the risk of data loss in the case of malicious actors.

Problem #3: Training New Staff for EMR and EHR Usage Can Be Difficult

Training your staff to use EHR software correctly can be done in various ways. However, organizing EMR training sessions is difficult due to the amount of work your employees have to do every day. In addition to that, the program may overwhelm them so much that they cease to care about it.

So, what are some possible solutions?

• First, you can hire someone to train everyone in the same way by focusing on standard processes in your practice.
• Secondly, you can divide your staff into groups to train them to use only the features that are relevant to their roles. The leaders in your organization could receive more training in tutorials, seminars, and one-on-one sessions to become “super users” capable of helping and even training others.
• Third, you can choose key employees who can dedicate time and energy to getting to know all about EMR.

Problem #4: EHRs and EMRs Don’t Fit With Clinical Workflow

Despite careful planning and implementation, medical institutions may find that EMR systems do not meet their needs. Think of a scenario in which you have invested a large amount of money in the technology but haven’t been able to utilize it to its fullest potential. However, you can avoid this problem if you plan more thoroughly ahead.  

Try these two resolutions to ensure smooth EMR and EHR workflow:

• Start an EHR Optimization Project.

EHRs rarely work the first time. After using new technology for a while, a practice leader might detect inefficiencies. He could then take action to improve them.

For EHR optimization to be successful, a practice must pull together a technology and workflow experts team. They can devise new technological fixes to meet the workflow objectives and set goals for the project. Therefore, the critical aspect of leveraging technology to enhance clinical workflow is EHR optimization. 

• Proper Demonstration of EMR/EHR Software Vendors

So, consider asking potential vendors to demonstrate EMR in-depth instead of making a hasty decision. You should also let your doctors and staff try out the software and provide feedback before you buy it.

While there are many obstacles regarding EMR and EHR software, you can overcome them with proper planning and strategic execution. So, physicians should be aware of these safety and usability problems when using EMRs and EHRs in their practices.

Choose the Top EMR/EHR Software 

Over the years, we have assisted podiatrists with EHR/EMR selection, implementation, and software usage. We can customize EMR/EHR software to meet your office’s needs. 

For more personalized information, schedule a demo or contact us through the contact form. Let’s work together to find the best software for your practice.

Do you have a favorite EHR add-on service? You are free to comment below!

Electronic Health Records (EHRs) play an essential role in keeping patients engaged in your healthcare practice. According to a study, EMRs have improved patient care and physicians’ livelihoods. Almost all patients prefer the option of contacting their independent doctors electronically.  

But how can physicians maintain patient engagement with EHR?

Before we go through it in detail, let’s first know the definition of patient engagement and its role.

What Is Patient Engagement?

Healthcare providers promote informed decision-making and behaviors with patient engagement as one key strategy. It has been widely proven that “patient engagement” reduces costs and improves patient outcomes. 

On the other hand, another term for patient engagement is “consumer engagement.” Companies, banks, and other service providers provide information, tips, and other means of communication to their customers to engage them. The goal of marketers over the decades has been to engage customers, provide better experiences, and strengthen brand relationships, all of which lead to better results. There is nothing innovative or revolutionary about this strategy, as most marketing textbooks recommend this approach.

The healthcare industry is finally catching up and realizing that patients need more access, quality, information, and accountability to grow and succeed in a competitive marketplace.

The Patient Portal Will Encourage Your Patients to Engage With Your EHR!

The majority of EHR systems include an online portal so patients can access their medical records anytime. Patient portals allow patients to access not just their medical history but also manage their healthcare in a better way through:

• Setting up appointments
• Paying online for medical bills
• Contacting their physician via email or text message
• Getting health alerts
• Requesting a prescription refill
• Searching for health topics using a keyword search
• Filling out intake forms before an appointment

By making it possible for patients to complete these tasks via a patient portal, patients can achieve two things:

• First, patients can reorder their medicines and make appointments easier. As a result, they can better adhere to their treatment regimen and achieve better health outcomes.
• Second, patients are more likely to use the portal if they can access their tasks and treatment plan online in one place. Instead of awaiting an appointment, patients can easily message their physician.

Having patients accessing the portal provides you with a good opportunity. When their medical documents are already on the screen, patients are more likely to view them. Furthermore, you can post notifications or announcements on their account that encourage them to view their records or recent results.

With the advent of the digital age, the healthcare industry has a high potential for improving patient engagement and empowering patients to take ownership of their care. Watch your patient care improve when you put your EHR software to work.

Getting Patients More Engaged

Access to electronic health information can help patients and providers collaborate on informed decisions. Patient participation is essential when managing and treating chronic conditions such as asthma, diabetes, and obesity. Here are some ways to engage your patients with electronic health records (EHRs) and how it benefits your organization:

• You can deliver detailed and accurate health information to your patients with the help of EHRs. In addition to providing clinical summaries, you can also provide reminders for follow-up care after a hospital stay or appointment and links to resources for patients for further education.

• EHRs enable you to schedule appointments electronically and send emails. If you can communicate quickly with your patients, your organization will be able to identify symptoms sooner, reach out to patients proactively, and improve healthcare quality.

• Electronic health records will allow your organization to collect and utilize patient data more efficiently. Your organization can identify and proactively engage at-risk patients by using patient lists.

Overall, patient engagement can be encouraged through the use of EHRs.

What Are The Benefits Of Patient Engagement? 

Research shows that patients who take an active role in their health have better health outcomes. Below are the significant benefits of improved patient engagement:

• Using software such as EMR/EHR programs can improve workflow by sharing information. This reduces or eliminates paperwork, ensures accurate information, and gives patients better service. 
• Thanks to technology, physicians and patients can communicate more frequently and keep each other updated about their condition.
• Patients are more confident about their conditions and diagnoses after increasing communication and receiving more information about their health.
• With better health information systems, scientists may be able to identify trends that lead to improved outcomes in public health.

Key Takeaway

Electronic health records (EHRs) are a crucial communication tool to engage patients and improve their health by giving them access to their medical records and educating them. Hence, patients are more involved in their care. Although personal meetings are still effective and essential for healthcare providers, technological options that provide electronic engagement have proved crucial for keeping patients engaged.

Choose the Top EMR/EHR Software 

Over the years, we have assisted podiatrists with EHR/EMR selection, implementation, and software usage. We can customize EMR/EHR software to meet your office’s needs. 

For more personalized information, schedule a demo or contact us through the contact form. Let’s work together to find the best software for your practice.

Do you have a favorite EHR add-on service? You are free to comment below!

Podiatrists with solo practices or that do nursing home visits need the best Podiatry EMR and EHR software to have a smooth workflow and provide their patients with the best care possible. Moreover, neither the staff nor physicians have to go through the stress of trying to use software that doesn’t align with their processes and settings.

We present you with the top 5 must-have tools and features for your Podiatry EMR and EHR software before you use and implement it in your practice.

1. Secure Messaging for Patients via Patient Portal

The National Library of Medicine study found that patient portals improved psychological outcomes, medication adherence, and preventive health care use. To encourage patients to take part in their health care, we must understand patient portals’ role as effective interventions.

Look for an EHR system with secure messaging capabilities for your podiatry practice. This patient portal feature has been shown to improve provider and patient workflow. For instance, if a patient does not appear to attend the clinic in person, he can contact you directly through the portal. It helps reduce no-shows and provides excellent interaction between the patient and provider.

Furthermore, the patient portal allows patients to view charts, vaccination records, treatment plans, diagnoses, appointment history, lab results and can refill their prescriptions, 

The importance of patient engagement in healthcare has grown with the advent of value-based care. With an end-to-end EHR system, you can provide your patients with the convenience they want and enhance the security of patient data.

2. Clinical Charting Tool

Keeping track of a patient’s medical history, visit notes, and treatment plan takes time but is essential. That’s why a reliable charting feature is a must in your podiatry EHR software. For example, in a dynamic photo charting tool, you can take pictures, upload them to the chart and add annotations. Meanwhile, a clinical charting tool in your podiatry EHR software can make your job easier and help you ensure patient records are accurate. After setting up the clinical chart to your standards, you should have no trouble navigating it.

Furthermore, you can create macro buttons to automate your notes further. Using these buttons can speed up charting and improve billing and claim accuracy.

3. Integration

For your practice to be successful, your EMR system must be able to integrate with existing systems. Almost all EHRs connect with labs so that healthcare providers can share information with other clinicians involved in the patient’s care. However, the best EHR system won’t help your podiatry practice if it doesn’t integrate with hospitals and large healthcare systems.

Consider these factors when choosing an EHR system for your podiatry practice:

• Is it capable of single-system billing?
• Can you simultaneously use a single log-in to access key performance indicators, outcomes, and patient engagement tools?
• Is it an API-dependent product?
• Are your team members required to undergo additional training? Do you have sufficient technical support to make the process easy?

System integration reduces paperwork, lowers costs, and makes it easier for you and your patients to keep results organized.

4. Built-in Templates

It is better to choose an EMR software for podiatry that offers pre-built podiatry templates for completing CPT codes, reviewing systems, facilitating prescriptions, and accommodating specific problems in podiatry. This podiatry EMR software should provide templates for conditions such as:

• Foot pain
• Ingrown toenails
• Foot Deformities
• Amputation
• Hammer Toe
• Ankle fractures
• Bunions
• Foot Ulcers
• Diabetic Foot Care

Podiatrists should utilize templates that automatically populate the correct information enabling faster, more efficient, and more secure paperwork.

5. Continuous Support and Training

Reviews of all software consistently highlight the importance of support and training. An EHR system with detailed FAQs is a trustworthy system.

Ideally, EHR systems should provide excellent responsive customer support and an easy-to-use interface in a low-cost package. Rather than troubleshooting technical issues, spend your time delivering exceptional service to your patients.

In contrast, outstanding EHR systems contribute to the growth and success of healthcare providers through an efficient onboarding process. Consider negotiating a support contract with your EHR vendor that includes free and unlimited training.

As the EHR market evolves, physicians now possess more “buying power” than ever when selecting the perfect EHR. Health care providers use the best EHR systems to improve patient care, including safety, communication, and timeliness. Moreover, they integrate patient data across multiple systems to make better clinical decisions.

Choose the Top EMR/EHR Software 

Over the years, we have assisted podiatrists with EHR/EMR selection, implementation, and software usage. The podiatry business is our expertise, and we can customize EMR/EHR software to meet your office needs. 

For more personalized information, schedule a demo or contact us through the contact form. Let’s work together to find the best software for your podiatry office.

Do you have a favorite EHR add-on service? You are free to comment below!