7 NextGen EHR Optimization Tips

What is NextGen EHR Optimization

The necessity of a better way to document and follow-up on patient care resulted in the invention of the Electronic Health Record (EHR) and Electronic Medical Record (EMR) systems. EHR & EMR systems work to improve efficiency, increase productivity, reduce instances of physician burnout, and ensure seamless workflow. However, while it was sufficient to replace paper-based documentation and reduce time spent on non-patient tasks, there is a need for advancement to include constant changes. Examples include improvements in medical treatment types, merging and adding new disciplines, and regulatory and compliance changes. NextGen EHR optimization involves reviewing the various facets of your EHR system, such as technical, operational, and clinical functions, to identify what requires fixing. Following this, TempDev partners with clients to tailor NextGen EHR to suit your organizational needs by implementing new workflows, features, and functionalities.

Need for NextGen EHR Optimization

Numerous scenarios can indicate the necessity for NextGen EHR optimization. For example;

• Multiple complaints from users, especially physicians

• Users employing workarounds instead of utilizing NextGen EHR

• Reduced usage of the NextGen EHR system, for example, fewer log-ins, an increasing number of handwritten documents, and rising staff overtime

• Noticeable loss of productivity or reimbursements

• Increased dissatisfaction among the patients

Loss in productivity, tense interactions between physician and patient, and the feeling of having settled for a sub-par system are signs indicating that it may be time to optimize your current NextGen EHR system. Notably, the nature of NextGen EHR integration, EPM, and functionality is also changing. Commercial payers and Medicare are shying away from the fee-for-service format and turning to value-based medicine to better patient care and decrease cost. EHR systems are now supporting extensive medical facilities and organizations with multiple branches, diverse disciplines, flexible technology, and real-time insights to improve patient care.

Optimization of NextGen EHR

NextGen EHR optimization serves to improve upon the current implementation, and many aspects of the install must be taken into account. It is vital to consider the concerns leading to dissatisfaction. Some of your interests may be remedied by:

• Training

  • Proper training to effectively utilize the system

  • Train the trainer programs

  • Superusers program reevaluated for effectiveness

  • New hire training programs

  • Retraining of users to reinforce current workflows

  • NextGen Certified Professionals evaluated 

• Technical & customer support

  • Requesting sufficient technical support from NextGen

  • Reestablishing or strengthening NextGen Account Executive & Account Manager relationship

  • Ensuring the system is configured correctly to improve system performance

• Workflow

  • Establishing & documenting standard workflows

  • Adapting the NextGen EHR system to your organization's workflow 

• Custom solutions 

  • NextGen EHR Template Development to improve workflows or add new clinical content

• Integration

  • Providing interoperability solutions between NextGen EHR and other software solutions in use by the client

Here some of the top seven optimization tips that will help you improve your EHR system:

1. Constant training on NextGen EHR

Regular training on NextGen EHR helps address concerns and correctly identifies what NextGen EHR can do well, what it is lacking, and what it cannot do entirely. NextGen EHR aims to improve clinician satisfaction, improve clinical efficiency, and reduce administrative burden. Additionally, optimization can save time and money by resolving problems connected to usability. NextGen EHR training must happen every upgrade to ensure newer features & functionality are appropriately used.

2. Reduce information overload

NextGen EHR's goal is to provide health data and offer clinical decision support at the point of care with the patient. However, the requirement to sift through massive amounts of clinical data to find the specific information only increases physicians' cognitive burden. Redesigning the templates only to include relevant data helps save on time by cutting out the clutter.

3. Conduct evaluation with the healthcare personnel to improve NextGen EHR usability

Usability should be of utmost priority when introducing new health IT tools. You do not want to introduce new functionalities that increase the administrative burden by adding more non-patient tasks. Health IT tools should work to improve patient care delivery and clinical processes. Regular check-ins with the healthcare personnel offer real-time insight on what sort of features would be thoroughly beneficial.

4. Include user-friendly features to increase efficiency

Efficient features vary across various disciplines. For example, NextGen EHR-integrated tools that allow access through mobile phones, such as NextGen Mobile, are a genius addition to ensure optimization. Such a mechanism allows for access to insight on what other healthcare teams are doing, transfer information between various departments, and essentially bridge the communication between providers. For example, physicians could quickly consult their colleagues, such as specialists, without even being in their office. Also, such platforms accommodate mobile healthcare personnel, such as those who perform home and SNF visits, by avoiding the administrative burden of desktop log-ins.

5. Specialize your facility's workflows

Specializing in your clinical workflows involves displaying functionalities common among providers within specific specialties and settings, helping users navigate NextGen EHR more efficiently. This format allows you to include the needs and specifics of various departments. For example, automatically display a rheumatologist's frequently used orders when they use the system. Consequently, users can quickly and easily access relevant information without having to go through unnecessary data.

6. Include physician champions

Physician champions are a beneficial inclusion to optimization because they serve as a voice of clinical users who are integrally tied to NextGen EHR's success. Physicians can quickly identify usability problems arising from data display, time inefficiencies, and the number of clicks. By serving at the frontline, they can help remedy the issues that later trickle down and cause ripple effects. 

7. Involve your IT & clinical support system

IT and clinical support systems, including superusers, are essential to the success of the implementation of NextGen EHR. They offer continued assistance even after deployment. They allow for timely responses in case of any inquiries. They offer customer care service by responding to FAQs that might hinder efficiency and provide technical support for any systematic errors that may affect productivity.

By ensuring complete optimization of your NextGen EHR, you can reap a myriad of benefits such as, providing up-to-date and accurate information at the point of interaction, improving physician and patient communication and engagement, providing more reliable prescriptions, and improving productivity and efficiency. Contact us at 888.TEMP.DEV, our team of NextGen EHR consultants at TempDev is also ready to help you optimize your NextGen EHR. NextGen EHR optimization varies on discipline, organization, and can range from simple to complex. Regardless we can evaluate and advise on the best way forward for your organization.