Practice Management Alert

Put legible records at your fingertips and watch compliance glitches disappear

If you-re not using electronic health records (EHR) yet, now's the time to consider a switch.
 
Despite the cost of installing an electronic health records system in an office, EHR (also known as -e-records-) has made life easier on many healthcare professionals. The federal government is even trying to encourage greater e-records use, offering free EHR software to smaller medical offices. (See -Want a Low-Cost EHR? View VistA- later in this issue.)
 
Expect the transition period from paper to digital records to be long and awkward, but experts say EHR can help streamline billing processes and improve the office's return on its claims in the long run. EHR also speeds up patient care and reduces expenses for paying transcribers and compliance risks due to illegible documentation.

EHR Makes Documentation Easier

One of the most important benefits of EHR in a medical practice is efficiency when documenting patient care, says Jim Collins, CPC, CEO of The Cardiology Coalition in Matthews, N.C.

-Many physicians follow a standard physical exam protocol for all patients, particularly specialists. EHR systems allow physicians to set up their -normal- physical exam as a block of text, which can then be entered into the medical record with just a few clicks or key strokes,- Collins says. With EHR, the physician does not have to scribble the same normal physical exam notes into every patient file, cutting down provider documentation time and transcription work.
 
Compliance Gets Easier
 
Billers who use an EHR system often find that the office is much more efficient since all e-records are clear, neat and stored in one place.

-All e-records are completely legible and more thorough than would typically be the case with handwritten notes,- Collins says.

When an office uses EHR, billers don't have to spend as much time deciphering a physician's penmanship. Not only will this make your billing procedure faster and more efficient, EHR will make reading patient records less frustrating.

Further, when you enter information into an EHR, it is stored there until you delete it; a handwritten note could get lost or damaged, while those risks are practically nil with e-records.

EHR Info More Readily Accessible

Another advantage is faster access to records, because they are stored electronically rather than in physical files. With EHR, the biller, as well as the physician, does not have to be in a specific place to view EHR; all billing and physician staff need is a computer to check a patient's record. E-records make finding vital patient information easier on all medical offices, but especially those practices with more than one location.

-With EHR, doctors have their entire patient base at their fingertips and have the ability to share the same record among multiple practice locations, as well as in the facility setting and at the physician's residence,- Collins says.

And, when an office has EHR, -critical information can also be culled from the medical record database to facilitate important patient care functions, identifying patients with certain conditions, locating patients impacted by a recall, generating a list of potential clinical trial candidates, etc.,-  Collins says.

Warning: No medical office should consider EHR without addressing its inherent risks. -The office should work with its software vendor to learn about the EHR's security features and then develop written policies and procedures to administer them,- says Tom Stevens, a consultant with the Enterprise Systems Group in Macon, Ga.