Electronic Medical Records or EMR solutions in healthcare refer to EHR systems (electronic health record) or EMR software.
Leading EMR systems provide a way to maintain the standard medical (and clinical) data gathered on a patient. Having clinic management software can help you streamline many of the functions integral to running your practice, as well as improving your bottom line. The best EMR software systems help clinicians and HCPs to be both HIPAA compliant, as well as operating at optimal levels of efficiency and care.
But, if you are not using specialized EMR solutions for your specialty medical or clinical practice (e.g. occupational medicine; rehab therapy, that includes physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech-language pathology; wound care; urgent care), you are missing out on the benefits a top EMR platform provides, freeing up resources, allowing you to focus on providing quality care to your patients.
Healthcare software that is used to provide you with EMR solutions can come with a variety of features. Here is a look at some of the most common EHR system features that should be a part of the clinical management software that you are using or considering.
These features include interfaces and systems integration, medical document scanning, medication tracking, e-Prescriptions, appointment reminders, marketing support and more. Keep reading to discover six of the key features one should prioritize when seeking an EHR platform.
1. Interfaces and Systems Integration (including Billing & Hospital Information Systems)
Integration is one of the most important aspects of any electronic medical recording solution and is accomplished via interfaces that push or pull data between EHR systems—in real-time and on-demand.
Two common points of integration are a hospital information system (HIS; if your practice is affiliated with a larger institutional network) and an electronic billing system. EMR billing integration provides you with a way to streamline the billing process.
It also improves the efficiency of your front office staff and assists with the reduction of coding errors that can result in payment delays, costing you both time and money. Reimbursements can happen at a faster rate, through the integration of the billing system within the EMR solutions used by your hospital or clinical practice.
This EMR feature is highly sought when adopting an EHR system. It reduces the time required to enter patient information each time a billing cycle occurs, making it an important electronic medical record feature.
Once your bulky patient files are initially loaded into the system, this data is quickly matched and can be sent electronically to an outside billing service, or prepared in house. You are free to devote more time to patient care and the efficiency of your operations.
2. Document Scanning
Document scanning is an important feature within specialized EMR solutions, allowing you to create custom workflows tailored to your clinic’s unique needs. With a document-scanning feature built into your electronic medical recording system, you have the ability to direct necessary supporting documentation to your in-house or external billing clerks, who in turn can forward the completed submission for reimbursement. This eliminates the need to obtain, copy and fax documents, as well as reducing the potential for missing paperwork or billing delays.
3. Medication Tracking
You can easily track medications prescribed to your patients and have information available at your fingertips with the medication-tracking feature of the best EMR solutions. One of the true values of medication tracking is the ability to determine if a prescribed medication interacts with other medications being taken by the patient. It can also be a useful and powerful tool for identifying allergic reactions and keep your patients safe from any potential, harmful effects.
EMR medication tracking features within your EHR platform provide warnings that may have been issued about a prescribed medication and suggest alternatives that may be equally effective in meeting the care needs of your patients.
4. E-Prescriptions
With e-prescriptions, you no longer have to give your patients scripts with poorly written handwriting, hoping the receiving pharmacy correctly fills the order. e-Prescriptions provide your practice with the ability to electronically write prescriptions and either give a legible printout to the patient or send the order directly to the patient’s pharmacy of choice.
The best EMR systems also offer providers a secure portal for electronic prescription of controlled substances, which is a highly regulated procedure based on state and federal requirements.
5. Appointment Reminders
Being electronically connected through email via mobile devices, tablet computers and laptops means the ability to stay in contact with your patients is constant. An appointment reminder feature allows you to take advantage of this level of connectivity by sending patient’s automated reminders.
Net Health’s EHR solutions integrate with your scheduler and direct messages to patients, based on the frequency or amount of advance time you establish within your EHR system.
Patients can be given initial notification of an impending appointment, a reminder seven days in advance, and once again 24 hours before the scheduled appointment. Automating this work results in significant time savings for the clinic and a decrease in missed appointments. Two important EHR functions.
6. Marketing Support
Don’t forget, while you’re collecting data about your patients’ insides, a top rated EMR system should be building a comprehensive view of your client base and performance output.
Some specialized EMR systems provide you an opportunity to benchmark your team against current national performance. Knowing how you compare to industry peers gives you the ability to better market your clinic.
Are you taking advantage of the general capabilities of an EMR system for patients (patient-centric)?
Are you at the top of your region for outcomes?
Let everyone know what sets you apart!
Medical EMR systems should have ways of easily accessing and reporting this important and sensitive health information. You can then share the data with the community of doctors that refer to your clinic, or leverage the stats to your success through public-facing marketing.
When it comes to your electronic medical recording platform, it’s all about finding the right fit for your practice.
Make sure all of your unique needs are being catered to by choosing a specialized EHR system from the suite of specialized EMR software provided by Net Health.
Our medical record keeping software, analytics, and robust EHR platforms steer clear of the standard ‘one size fits all’ approach taken by other EMR software solutions, focusing on finding just the right fit to provide fast and agile solutions for your occupational medicine, rehab therapy for clinics, wound care, or urgent care clinic’s needs.
Discover for yourself what makes Net Health the leader in specialized software solutions for outpatient care, and Electronic Medical Record Software.
Schedule a free demo today!