Notes

Electronic Health Records - All Aboard?
Whether you're a health care provider, nurse, or office administrator, these days, if you don't start using a computer on a regular basis, then you're probably several steps behind the curve. There's no questioning the fact that despite medical providers' best intentions, the business enterprise of patient care has evolved right into a world of diagnosis codes and insurance costs - and at the center of it all is the one and only a blinking icon, or rather, a large number of blinking icons signifying the beginning 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 Internet 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 truth that EHRs offer some clear-cut benefits for those professionals who choose to use them. From the patient care perspective, using electronic health records means faster and much more focused service, less waiting time for patients, and fewer errors. After all, doctors aren't exactly known because of their stellar handwriting skills, so the use of electronic records can be truly instrumental in improving patient safety and comfort.

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

Also, consider more info that by implementing an EHR, you can overcome one of the greatest major failures of the still-popular (though perhaps not for long) paper system: billing. In website with Roberta Mullin of HITECH Answers, paper billing is a thing that simply hasn't worked well for a long time, and the percentage of rejection on the part of insurance companies can sometimes be enough to run an otherwise thriving practice into the ground. By running your billing via an EHR, however, you can avoid spinning your wheels to correct internal errors and external discrepancies, and, more importantly, enhance your statistics on actually getting paid.

Why, then, isn't everyone jumping on the EHR bandwagon? For check here , the resistance towards EHRs is due to a debilitating combination of financial investment and fear. After all, the trouble of EHR implementation can be rather significant when you take into account the initial price tag of whatever software package is deemed ideal for your practice in conjunction with the need for proper employee training - a chance cost unto itself. And while the United States government does have financial incentives available under Medicare and Medicaid for individuals who implement EHR systems starting in 2011, most are worried about meeting eligibility requirements for what's quickly becoming the primary way to obtain unease among healthcare professionals and software designers alike: meaningful use.

As part of 2009's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, healthcare providers can receive government funding for adopting EHRs into their practices provided that such programs comply with the criteria inherent in meaningful use - standards that, according to many, should certainly go without saying. Although the guidelines inherent in the word "meaningful use" seem to be continuously evolving, the bottom line is, a qualified system should 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 eligible for reimbursement, an EHR system must be with the capacity of transmitting statistical data that may 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 preference doesn't end up making the cut, you can essentially kiss those government-issued reimbursement checks goodbye. However, before you obtain too swept up in the furor over meaningful use, you will want to shift that burden onto the program developers whose job it is to generate these programs in the first place?

As a doctor, your role in every of this is simply to look around, take notice of the direction where your industry is headed, and get your piece of the action before it's too late. The deadline to implement an EHR system in trade for government incentives is scheduled for 2016, and to put in 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 overlooked 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 so that when you talk with software vendors, you'll know very well what questions to ask. Secondly - which one's important - get ready, your partners, and your employees for the notion 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, notice that in the long-run, proper training is the key to successful EHR use and the promise of operational efficiency - quite simply, higher profits overall.

Actually, do yourself a favor: Next time you find yourself crunching those numbers and worrying whether your system will qualify for meaningful use, try focusing more on your own personal commitment to EHR training, because by the end of the day, that's where your profits on return is truly likely to come 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 instead of contemplate the expense of EHR implementation over the next year or two, decide whether it is possible to afford to keep things status quo.

Roger Shindell,
Founder & CEO,
Carosh Media & Marketing
My Website: http://hawkee.com/profile/3739619/