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The EMR Billing Specialists

How to increase the productivity of your practice by hiring an EHR expert!

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An EHR expert can maximize the ROI of your EHR!

Hire an EHR expert to manage workflow complexities!

For most physicians EHRs are the monster under the bed they were scared of as children. The amount of data fodder an EHR needs to function has reduced physicians into an army of data entry professionals. Every day at work, becomes one long process of, learning, unlearning, relearning and feeding data into a system that is becoming more difficult to handle by the day…

Dangerous learning curves ahead!

One reason, why physicians hate their EHR, with a vengeance is that, learning the ropes of an electronic medical record is tiresome and frustrating. There are tripwires and smoky mirrors everywhere. The worst part of working with an EHR is that it eats up large chunks of time that could have been spent on interacting with patients.

According to a survey by the MPI group as many as 67% of physicians were planning to switch to another system. About 63% of doctors wouldn’t choose the same system again if given a chance! What could be the reason for such high levels of physician dissatisfaction? Is it because EHRs are not designed to be handled by physicians? Or are doctors unable to work efficiently with their EHRs?

Designed for whom?

Can a bunch of template designers truly understand what a physician truly wants? There is a huge dissonance between the everyday workflow of medical practices and the template structure of EHRs. They are rigid, demand huge amounts of unwanted or repetitive data and make pulling out pertinent information a herculean task.

It has become a tug of war between physicians and EHR vendors as worried policy makers watch over the chaos that a well-meant change can bring.

Physicians are not ready as yet…

Any change can bring about widespread distrust and confusion. Throw in a completely new model of working; you have a disaster waiting to happen. Unwilling or reluctant physicians are partly to blame for the entire digitizing effort becoming a fiasco.

A lasting solution!

Move over phoney experts! There are several EHR experts who can help physicians resolve technical issues, come up with customization plans and help physicians understand complicated EHR architectures. Despite the bickering and disagreements a huge number of medical practices are dependent on EHRs to store, access and transmit vital medical information.

To be able to work more effectively with their EHRs, physicians will have to hire an EMR expert to handle hardware and software snags. There are several remote EHR tech support consultants who can finally bridge the divide between physicians and their EHRs…

Infographics: Physicians Going ‘Tabletized’ to Access EHRs

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Physicians EHR

 

The E-gadget Backdrop

The mobile gadget revolution in the healthcare arena is at the cusp of ‘tabletization’, according to a string of new reports. Clinicians are increasingly using their mobile devices, especially tablets at practices for the rapid, secure and amicable electronic health records’ (EHRs’) usage, storage and exchange.

Insights into the Penchant for Tablets

It’s a trendy ‘spectator sport’ among new practices and the mobile purveyors to fathom why physicians are utilizing their tablets. Two recent reports, “Mobile Usage in the Medical Space 2013″ and “Tablet Usage by Physicians 2013″ from American EHR Partners based on the survey of about 1,400 physicians, underscored that tablets are more useful than smartphones for doctors using EHRs.

The doctors use their tablets in the clinical settings for performing the following activities :

  • 1. Sending and receiving e-mails (52.4 percent);
  • 2. Accessing electronic health records (EHRs) (50.6 percent);
  • 3. Retrieving diagnostic information (41.7 percent);
  • 4. Research data about drugs (33.3 percent);
  • 5. Keeping abreast with medical field through journals and articles (29.8 percent).

Snapshots on Tablet Usage in Healthcare Space

  • 1. Physicians use Epocrates®, Medscape®, Up To Date®, MedCalc®, and Skyscape® as the top five tablet apps in their medical practices.
  • 2. Smaller enterprises, with three doctors or less, are expected to carry out an extensive range of bustles on their tablet, such as banking, patients’ correspondence, or taking snaps for medical research, etc.
  • 3. One-third of EHR users and one-quarter of non-EHR users prefer a tablet gadget in their clinical practice.
  • 4. The users of EHR are hanging about 25 hours per week on their tablet device, with a better portion of time used up on business (59 percent) than for personal points (41%).
  • 5. With an increased clinical and healthcare research funding, the research about medications is escalating. About 33 percent of EHR users employ a tablet to research medications every day.
  • 6. About 70 percent of the physicians are tablet users who access EHR through password.
  • 7. More than 32 percent have installed device tracker apps on their tablets, so as to remotely clear all data on their tablet – if misplaced or stolen.

 Tablet- Benefits Overwhelm !

  • A. Though smartphones and tablets are competitively used by physicians, most physicians are feeling convenient with the EHR access on a portable, wider screen as in tablets.
  • B. Making video calls to interact with patients for research, feedback and patient services is much easier and pleasing with this device.
  • C. During business meetings and even during special patient encounters, this is a great instrument to scribble upon.

  Contact MedicalBillingStar to know about the recent healthcare trends in gadget landscape !

Don’t Fumble Your Way Through EHR Implementation !

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EHR Implementation ; How To Avoid The Tripwires…

Choosing an EHR is tough. A zillion glossy brochures, well-meaning colleagues and pushy sales persons only make the decision harder. The, fact that almost everybody who owns an ehr hates it with a passion makes the most determined of physicians, back-foot.

According to recent reports physicians are reverting to paper records. And some have started looking out for another EHR. A survey by American EHR partners found that user satisfaction levels dropped from 39% in 2010 to 27% in 2012. How do you ensure your EHR implementation process doesn’t turn out to be a harrowing experience ?ehr-implementation

Know What You Want…

Most physicians rush in to ehr implementation without clear direction or expectation. Analyse your workflow and see how the inclusion of an electronic health record impacts your practice operations. Do not fall for the “you can tweak it” line. Manipulating your ehr can prove to be counter-productive.

Customizing your system is fine as long as you don’t miss out on the features and automated comfort your ehr offers.

What Does Your Front Office Team Think ?

Yes, the mousy girl who sits in the reception needs to know whether the appointment scheduling and insurance eligibility feature, makes the cut. Your coders will have to decide if the coding and scrubbing options are easy to work with.

The end users are many and you have to choose an EHR that makes everyone happy. It will increase productivity and morale.

The Person Who Matters The Most !

Your patients are the lifeline of your medical practice. Ask your EHR vendor whether they offer a patient portal. Check if it is patient friendly and secure. Enquire about the level of training and support offered. Caring for your patients is after all the best investment, ever.

Stay The Course !

Adopting an EHR is like parenting. It does get on the nerves and makes you lose sleep. But being a quitter is not going to help. Vow to yourself no matter how tough it is you will not revert to paper. Scribbling down details is easy but not the best way to work. During the implementation stage itself, promise to yourself, you will stick to your EHR.