Medical practices have routinely adopted new technology to help them provide better and more reliable healthcare for patients anywhere in the world.
Regardless of a clinic’s or hospital’s specialty or size, adopting Electronic Health Records, or EHRs, can help your medical business streamline and optimize the way it manages patients and care providers.
In this blog, we will explore some of the main reasons why EHR software for medical professionals is becoming more popular in the U.S. and abroad.
The Simplest Explanation of EHR
Visualize the consolidation of patient medical charts into easy-to-access but also secure digital documents.
These are called EHRs, and they make it easier for healthcare establishments to keep patient records updated.
It also grants approved individuals access to this information in real time from any authorized location or device.
EHRs can contain any or all of the following patient records:
- Medical history
- Treatment plans
- Lab results
- Allergies
- Prescriptions
- Medications
- Radiology images
- Doctor visits
- +more
“Electronic health records are the answer to improving patient care.”
– Dr. Fleur Sack (family medicine specialist in Miami)
How Does EHR Benefit The Healthcare Industry?
Designed to provide complete and up-to-date information about patients, EHRs make industry-wide coordination and efficient healthcare possible.
- EHRs are also known for their convenience. They make it easy for authorized hospital staff, physicians, and doctors to share medical information securely with select professionals who can help with a patient’s diagnosis or treatment.
- With EHRs, healthcare is also made exponentially safer because they mitigate medical errors across the board.
- By reducing a medical establishment’s reliance on paperwork and lowering the chance of duplication taking place during testing, EHRs have been proven to reduce costs for a hospital or clinic.
- With EHRs, healthcare providers meet most, if not all, of their business goals.
- EHRs also enable better work-life balance for hospital and clinic staff. This, in turn, has boosted focus and productivity ratings.
- Prescribing medications to new and old patients alike has become safer, swifter, and more reliable since EHRs were implemented.
- In addition to uploading complete and accurate patient documentation, EHRs have also streamlined the healthcare industry’s billing and coding processes.
- Communication and interaction between healthcare providers and their patients have also seen remarkable improvement, making healthcare more convenient and doubly accurate.
- Finally, the security and privacy of every patient are safeguarded more effectively once their data is incorporated into a quality EHR database.
The reach and influence that Electronic Health Records have established in the medical and healthcare sectors are vast and impressive.
EHRs have made a positive difference in the lives of millions of patients and improved the caregiving quality of the physicians, clinicians, and doctors who look after them.
“Consider this: I can go to Antarctica and get cash from an ATM without a glitch, but should I fall ill during my travels, a hospital there could not access my medical records or know what medications I am on.”
– Nathan Deal (emergency medicine physician with multiple hospital affiliations in Texas).
How EHRs Increase Revenue For Healthcare Providers
All businesses make plans to increase revenue. After all, without a steady flow of income, how will any business take care of the people who rely on it?
This reasoning is especially important for modern healthcare providers, more so since the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic woes that hundreds of businesses have experienced since.
Thanks to Electronic Health Records, healthcare organizations are maximizing their revenue in some of the simplest ways.
- EHR billing and payment tools help hospitals ensure payment and manage income.
- Any coding mistakes or human error have become negligible because EHRs have made it possible to automatically scrub claims and thereby avoid insurance rejections.
- On a related note, this error-free framework has made first-time acceptance rates for patient insurance claims higher. These claims are neither delayed nor lost, making reimbursements flow faster.
- Because EHRs document every aspect of a patient’s medical information, including their doctor visits, individual claims come with approved evidence that further reduces falsification and prevents legal issues.
- This scenario helps both the patient and their care provider gain access to the finances they need by way of insurance, so scheduled treatments or surgeries can proceed without hassle.
- Hospitals and practices that implement EHRs are also eligible for monetary incentives from the government. The U.S. government has beneficial policies in place to promote the digitization of patient records to enable all-round security and efficiency for its citizens.
- Penalties due to any kind of error can also be avoided thanks to EHRs. They can save a healthcare provider or business thousands of dollars in fines or legal fees.
- Compliance is also fulfilled because EHRs help medical practices prepare for any mandates and meet a range of compliance guidelines.
All these points and more, help healthcare professionals and their businesses save enormous amounts of time and money each year without compromising on quality, healthcare efficiency, or patient safety.
“And as a nurse, I know very well the importance, for example, of electronic medical records.”
– Lois Capps (former nurse, health advocate, & U.S. representative)
Are EHRs Scalable?
If you are a healthcare organization and you’re in the market for third-party EHR software to optimize your business and improve annual revenue, you’ll be happy to know that EHRs can be scaled up.
They can grow to include bigger patient bases, especially since medical practices are routinely expanding.
If you decide to join accountable care organizations or related groups, a cloud-based EHR can help your business integrate vast amounts of patient data securely and comprehensively.
EHRs also grant healthcare providers numerous opportunities for compliance and convenience when taking care of patients.
Compliance & Customization of EHRs
Being HIPAA-compliant is one of the biggest goals of every major healthcare organization in the USA. Because EHRs protect patients’ health records, they can help your establishment attain compliance.
Reliable Electronic Health Records can also help organizations fulfill state-specific policies, including CPT, IDC9/10, and more.
Now, about customization… Granted, every practice is different. But EHRs provide a uniform, customizable framework, which makes it easy for all providers to meet the unique needs of the patients under their care.
You can tailor your EHRs to complement and improve your hospital’s or clinic’s daily workflow. This comes with added advantages, like making your overall digital transition seamless and improving daily efficiency.
EHRs are not coming in the distant future; they’re already here.
How EHRs Connect Providers & Patients
Users can log into a third-party-managed EHR anywhere a stable Internet connection is available. The potential for healthcare providers to collaborate with colleagues and other professionals is one thing. In addition, EHRs also help them involve their patients in the caregiving process.
Imagine being able to answer any patient query from anywhere. Moreover, you’ll be doing this in an atmosphere of digital security, legal safety, and medical compliance.
Get in touch with the MedzLegal team to learn how you can get started implementing EHRs for your healthcare business.
“There’s no reason that patients can’t have electronic access to their complete medical history… Just as people can check their bank account information online or using their ATM card, patients who want to should have electronic access to their medical records.”
– Paul Ryan (interventional cardiologist with AMITA Health Medical Group Heart & Vascular)
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References Used:
https://www.healthit.gov/faq/what-are-advantages-electronic-health-records
https://quotesgram.com/img/quotes-about-electronic-health-records/10673492/
