Notes

Electronic Health Records - All Aboard?
Whether you're a doctor, nurse, or office administrator, these days, if you don't start using a computer frequently, then you're probably several steps behind the curve. There is no questioning the fact that despite medical providers' best intentions, the business of patient care has evolved right into a world of diagnosis codes and insurance premiums - and at the biggest market of it all is the one and only a blinking icon, or rather, thousands of blinking icons signifying the start of a technological revolution known as EHR implementation.

The electronic health record debate is one which has raged since early adapters started singing the praises of provider efficiency and improved patient satisfaction all rolled up into one easy-to-use program. Whether you were the initial person on your own block to dial into this craze called the web or perhaps a self-proclaimed technophobe who hears the term "Blackberry" and pictures a carton of fruit instead of a handheld electronic device, it's difficult to deny the fact that EHRs offer some clear-cut benefits for all those professionals who choose to use them. From a patient care perspective, the utilization of electronic health records means faster and more focused service, less waiting time for patients, and fewer errors. After all, doctors aren't exactly known because of their stellar handwriting skills, therefore the usage of electronic records could be truly instrumental in improving patient safety and comfort.

As your physician with a presumably limited budget for technology-related investments outside the realm of actual medical equipment, you may be thinking "What's in it for me?" The initial point to contemplate is that nothing draws patients to a practice like reviews that are positive and a squeaky clean record - but that's not all. The use of EHRs can in fact improve productivity within a practice while opening the doors for patient expansion. Imagine trying to increase your patient load by 30 % without the help of an extra support staff? Having an EHR, it might be possible.

Also, consider the fact that by implementing an EHR, it is possible to overcome one of the biggest major failures of the still-popular (though not for long) paper system: billing. According to Roberta Mullin of HITECH Answers, paper billing is a thing that simply hasn't worked well for years, and the percentage of rejection for insurance companies can often be enough to run an otherwise thriving practice in to the ground. By running your billing through an EHR, however, you can avoid spinning your wheels to improve internal errors and external discrepancies, and, moreover, enhance your statistics on actually getting paid.

Why, then, isn't everyone jumping on the EHR bandwagon? For many, the resistance towards EHRs is due to a debilitating combination of financial investment and fear. After all, the expense of EHR implementation could be rather significant once you take into account the initial price of whatever software package is deemed suitable for your practice coupled with the necessity for proper employee training - an opportunity cost unto itself. And while america government does have financial incentives available under Medicare and Medicaid for those who implement EHR systems starting in 2011, many are worried about meeting eligibility requirements for what is quickly becoming the primary way to obtain unease among healthcare professionals and software designers alike: meaningful use.

As get more info of 2009's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, healthcare providers can receive government funding for adopting EHRs into their practices so long as such programs comply with the criteria inherent in meaningful use - standards that, in accordance with many, should certainly go without saying. Even though guidelines inherent in the word "meaningful use" seem to be continuously evolving, in a nutshell, a qualified system must be certified as capable of maintaining patient records and facilitating efficient patient care in a meaningful manner (i.e. e-prescribing). It must also enable the electronic exchange of health-related information among multiple providers to improve (and, ideally, expedite) patient care. Finally, to be deemed qualified to receive reimbursement, an EHR system must be with the capacity of transmitting statistical data that can work to improve the healthcare industry on a complete.

What goes on if your EHR system doesn't meet the criteria for meaningful use? If your program of choice doesn't find yourself making the cut, it is possible to essentially kiss those government-issued reimbursement checks goodbye. However, before you get too swept up in the furor over meaningful use, you will want to shift that burden onto the software developers whose job it is to create these programs in the first place?

As a healthcare provider, your role in every of this is merely to look around, take notice of the direction where your industry is headed, and obtain your little bit of the action before it's too late. The deadline to implement an EHR system in exchange for government incentives is scheduled for 2016, also to add a little juice to the pressure cooker, Medicare plans to lessen reimbursements to late adopters or non-adopters as early as 2015. In order to avoid getting left out in the cold, you really should hop aboard this slowly growing trend, albeit in a well-thought out manner.

First, start outlining your specific EHR needs in order that when you meet with software vendors, you'll know what questions to ask. Secondly - which one's important - prepare yourself, your partners, and your employees for the idea of in-depth, time-consuming training. Learning a fresh EHR system isn't a thing that happens overnight, and before you begin lamenting those lost dollars by means of decreased productivity, recognize that in the long-run, proper training may be the key to successful EHR use and the promise of operational efficiency - in other words, higher profits overall.

In fact, do yourself a favor: Next time you're crunching those numbers and worrying whether one's body will qualify for meaningful use, try focusing more by yourself personal commitment to EHR training, because by the end of the day, that is where your profits on return is truly likely to result from. And remember, despite the fact that the EHR wildfire hasn't exactly engulfed the healthcare industry to date, the push toward health technology is slowly, yet steadily, working to improve those statistics. So rather than contemplate the price of EHR implementation on the next couple of years, decide whether it is possible to afford to keep things status quo.

Roger Shindell,
Founder & CEO,
Carosh Media & Marketing
Website: https://www.olcbdfan.com/huawei-y5-2019-review/