Taking these 5 steps can help streamline your EHR integration process

Electronic health records systems are designed to store patient information in a digital format. While filing cabinets full of paper records were the standard for many years, EHR systems are fast becoming the primary methods of keeping and exchanging patient data between practices. 

Hospitals, physical therapy clinics and health care providers of all kinds have embraced EHR technology in recent years, and for good reason. Some of the benefits of EHR systems include:

• Fewer mistakes — Handwritten charts and old technology can often cause providers to misread or misunderstand patient information. EHR systems prevent these mistakes through the use of quick-prompt drop-down menus and other easy-to-read options. 

• Patient engagement — Many EHR systems allow patients to view their own medical records and information. This is one way that providers can encourage patients to take part in their own health care. They can view test results as well as review their physical therapist’s instructions for what they should do in-between sessions. Engaged patients tend to have better outcomes than those who don’t play an active role in their care.

• Lowered costs — Practices that employ the use of EHR systems report fewer labor hours spent on managing client data, as well as more accurate billing, leading to lower overall costs in the long run.

• Increased security — EHR system providers store all of a practice’s patient data in cloud-based systems. With the appropriate firewalls and anti-hacking technology in use, these data systems are among the safest places to store patient data. Not to mention, patients will never have to worry about their information being lost due to negligence or a natural disaster.

The main goal of EHR integration is to help health care providers to work more efficiently. This helps them to spend less time looking through charts and paper records and more time with the patient. However, sometimes the EHR system you are attempting to integrate interrupts your workflow more than it assists it. 

How can I streamline my EHR system integration process?

If your EHR system isn’t as user-friendly or as efficient as you had hoped, there are a few steps that you can take to make the process go more smoothly for yourself and your employees. According to experts in EHR systems integration, these are the five steps that your practice can take to streamline your EHR systems:

1. Offer employees a feedback system — Learning new software might come more easily to some people than it does to others. Some of your employees might be experiencing problems with your newly integrated EHR systems but may be too embarrassed or frustrated to say anything about it.

Offering an anonymous feedback system will let your employees point out trouble spots in your integration. This can help you fix potential problems before they become burdensome on your staff and your patients. Many times, a hardware modification or a little extra training are all that you need to address a problem.

2. Provide continuous training — Learning all the features of a new system can be overwhelming. Providing users with ongoing training helps your staff gain practice, so that they can learn to use EHR systems without assistance. 

Going over some of the less frequently used features in the system is also very important. When the time comes that these features need to be used, your staff will not waste time trying to figure out a solution when they could be attending to your patients instead.

3. Conduct regular performance reviews — It is important to determine whether your newly implemented EHR system is meeting the needs of your practice. If your system is performing poorly, it can result in staff spending more time fixing problems than working with patients. 

Poor performance may be caused by inadequate hardware, such as slow computers, or by limitations of the software, such as limiting the number of users who can be logged in at one time. If you find that your EHR systems are not the right fit, then it is time to replace it with a system that better meets your needs.

4. Avoid duplicating work — Making sure that specific EHR tasks are being performed by the most appropriate people is important to streamlining your practice’s workflow. Duplicate work can happen when staff are unsure as to what patient data has been entered into the system and what hasn’t. 

Wasted labor can also occur when the wrong personnel are involved in tasks such as updating patient records when they have not been trained. Keeping close tabs on who is responsible for what steps in the process can help to reduce the risk of multiple people performing the work of one.

5. Communicate with your EHR provider — Communicating with your EHR provider about any problems you might have or changes that you want to be made is an effective way to prevent hiccups that can slow your workflow during EHR implementation. New features and add-ons to your system can be the fix that you need to solve problems with your workflow.

What is AgileEMR and how can it help with my EHR integration?

AgileEMR is a unique solution to your electronic medical record needs that was designed by and for physical therapy practitioners. We understand the challenges that your physical therapy practice can face during the EHR integration process. Our software was launched in 2013 to address problems that many clinics had run into while using one-size-fits-all EMR systems. Since our launch, AgileEMR has been used in over 1 million patient cases across the United States.

Our comprehensive medical record solution offers everything that a physical therapy practice needs for accurate documentation, task management, scheduling, template management, reporting and billing tools in one time-saving platform.

If your practice no longer has an EHR system that suits your needs, then look no further. Our unique platform takes all the features that are required for comprehensive EHR implementation and simplifies them to make life easier for your clinical staff.

Contact our team today for more information or to schedule a demo to see how AgileEMR can help your practice.