May 13, 2021 | Net Health

3 Minute Read

3 Benefits of EHR Smart Scheduling for Home Health

Home health professionals strive to offer the highest quality of care when providing assistance in a patient’s home. Essential parts of this care include making sure that home visits are made on a regular basis, medications are given as needed, and follow-ups are coordinated in a timely manner. With EHR software solutions, tedious paperwork is eliminated, and automated electronic reminders help make it convenient for home health nurses and aides to stay up-to-date with a patient’s progress.

Here, we will explore three key benefits of EHR scheduling for home health care:

1. Keeps To-Do Tasks More Organized

Every day, home health team members have to stay organized and fully cognizant of their to-do tasks and daily work activities. They must document their care plan, visit frequency and make proper arrangements for future visits with patients. When providing care to multiple patients in different locations on a weekly basis, remembering varying lists of to-do items can become overwhelming. The good news is, there’s been evidence that EHRs can help lessen the load significantly.

In 2014, a study found that when a Philadelphia home care agency chose to implement an EHR solution platform, 90 percent of notes were completed within a one-day interval of compliance.1 Additionally, team members reported they were happy with communication and documentation timeliness.

2. Reduces Home Health Scheduling Errors

Like with all other medical fields, compliance is a huge component of ensuring that a home health organization is running properly and smoothly at all times. But scheduling visits isn’t always a seamless process, and conflicts and overlaps can sometimes arise with other noted patient check-ins on the calendar. EHRs can help pin-point these incidents with automated compliance features and, as a result, reduce any scheduling errors and mistakes that may pop up.

3. Allows More Time Spent With Patient

Patients want to know and feel like they are being cared for in the best of ways, and that their medical needs are never ignored. By developing a positive relationship with their home health team, patients can find it easier to let their guards down and trust those around them. More so, patients who have a longer home health visit are less likely to have a hospital readmission rate, according to National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). 2

EHR solutions make it possible for home health staff to spend time being more physically present caring for patients. Thanks to integrated scheduling functionalities, to-do items and tasks can easily be noted, as well as reviewed and confirmed when outside the patient’s home.

How Home Health EHRs Can Save Time and Help Manage Patient Goals

The Link Between Point-of-Care Solutions and Improving Patient Quality Care

References:

U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, “Impact of Homecare Electronic Health Record on Timeliness of Clinical Documentation, Reimbursement, and Patient Outcomes,” April 30, 2014.
Home Health Care News,  “Longer Home Health Visits Tied to Lower Hospital Rates,” May 14, 2018.

Share this post

Subscribe and See More