4 Benefits of Implementing an EHR System

There are many benefits to implementing an EHR system. The benefits of EHRs can help you improve patient care while simplifying administrative tasks, saving you time and money. In today’s health care market, implementing an EHR system is critical to staying competitive.

EHRs are more than a replacement for paper medical records. An EHR system can help you see more patients in less time. It can also support better diagnosis and treatment, helping your providers.

Here are four key ways that implementing an EHR system will benefit your practice.

Benefits of Implementing an EHR System: Improve Data Access

With an EHR, your providers always have accurate, up-to-date clinical data at their fingertips. EHRs eliminate the guesswork of paper charts caused by handwriting and incomplete records. Your EHR system can connect directly with labs and pharmacies to ensure fast, easy access to test results and prescribing. EHRs are also built to share data among providers and hospitals. By sharing clinical data with your patients’ other providers, you can reduce duplicative testing, improve diagnoses, and coordinate care.

EHRs also help patients access their data so they can better manage their care. NextGen Patient Portal, for example, gives patients remote access to their medical records. Your EHR can let patients see lab and test results, request prescription refills, or even message their doctors with a question or concern. By giving patients access to their data between visits, you can help engage them in their care. Research has shown that Patient Portals can improve medication adherence and increase uptake of preventive services, both of which are linked to better health outcomes.

Your EHR system combines data about your patients, your practice, and your finances into one place. Dashboards, reports, and templates can provide an overview of your practice to help you identify bottlenecks and problem areas and correct them.

Benefits of Implementing an EHR System: Simplify Administrative Tasks

Your EHR does more than facilitate patient care. Unlike paper records, implementing an EHR system can simplify your administrative tasks. EHRs make it easier for you to schedule appointments, bill payers, and meet reporting requirements.

An EHR and EPM system can help you simplify your appointment workflow. For example, the NextGen Patient Portal can allow patients to schedule their own appointments, reducing the time your front desk staff members spend on the phone. Patients can also automatically pay their bills, reducing your billing department's time on patient collections. You can also automatically schedule follow-up appointments and send reminders via text and email. And check-in kiosks linked to your EHR can eliminate paper forms and reduce the time your staff spends entering and verifying insurance, demographic, and symptom information.

EHRs also help you code and bill for the services you provide more accurately. Providers can enter diagnoses, procedures, and documentation at the point of care. This reduces errors introduced by difficulty reading notes or incomplete recall of visit information. Your EHR system can automatically check for missing documentation and alert providers, preventing claims denials.

As payers shift from paying for volume to paying for value, reporting requirements have exploded. Your EHR can help you track and report on key quality measures with ease. With tools like TempDev’s NextGen Quality Dashboard Template, you can identify key quality measures and track them throughout the year. This helps you identify problems before they affect your quality bonus payments. You can also draw data directly from your EHR to meet reporting requirements, saving you time.

Benefits of Implementing an EHR System: Provide Better Patient Care

Sophisticated EHR systems, like NextGen, include tools to improve patient care. Your EHR will automatically check for prescribing errors including allergies and medication interactions. With a complete, searchable patient record, your EHR can warn providers about medication errors or potential duplicative tests.

When you implement an EHR, you also gain access to digital health technologies like Clinical Decision Support tools. Clinical Decision Support can help providers make diagnoses. These tools can also guide providers towards clinically appropriate treatment plans. Clinical Decision Support tools reduce misdiagnosis and increase adherence to clinical guidelines. This helps ensure fast and accurate reimbursement and better patient health. These tools also help providers treat the whole patient, increasing patient satisfaction and outcomes.

Benefits of Implementing an EHR System: Higher Efficiency and Lower Costs

Implementing an EHR system can make your practice more efficient. You can use tools like TempDev’s NextGen EHR Dashboards and Reports to identify and correct bottlenecks in your patient flow. This helps you increase patient throughput without reducing patients’ face-to-face time with providers. Reducing wait times can also increase patient satisfaction.

Your EHR can also help you reduce errors. Automatic reminders help providers document visits appropriately, saving time on refiling claims. With e-prescribing and electronic referrals, you can ensure your patients get the right care at the right time. Electronic prescriptions and lab orders are also easier to track. This saves you and your patients time and helps ensure quick, accurate diagnoses.

Researchers have found that EHRs have a positive return-on-investment, often within a year of implementation. Your EHR can help you see more patients in less time, increasing your revenue. And you can lower your administrative costs by reducing claims denials and front desk workloads.

TempDev Can Help You Realize the Benefits of Implementing an EHR System

TempDev’s consultants and developers have deep experience implementing and optimizing NextGen EHR and EPM systems. If you are planning an EHR implementation or looking to get more out of your existing EHR system, TempDev can help. From project management to data conversions to customization, TempDev has the expertise you need to make your NextGen system work for your practice.

Call us at 888.TEMP.DEV or contact us here to get started implementing your NextGen EHR system.