EHRs are now in use in more than 90% of hospitals in the U.S. This means that CIOs will eventually have to justify the cost of implementing the systems and also create strategies for improving the efficiency and interoperability of the EHR. Working with an EMR connection consultant enables you to fill the demand for expert advice in selecting, optimizing, and utilizing an EHR. However, reputable consultants don’t come cheap. So you need to justify their cost per hour and ensure that you will gain maximum value from your consultation.
Here are some of the primary reasons why working with a consultant will improve productivity, cut costs, and boost patient care quality.
1. To Utilize EHR Data for Strategic Decision Making
EHRs can provide advanced analytics and aid clinical, administrative, and financial decision making. All most all EHRs capture and generate an enormous volume of data every year. However, a substantial amount of it is stored in a poorly structured format. This makes it challenging to use analytics and reporting tools to extract and utilize the analysis, forecasting, and planning information.
An EHR consultant can help your practice leverage this data using tools that can extract, restructure, and load the data into analytics tools. Consultants will bridge the gap for providers who don’t have a data analytics team. It’s also possible for the consultant to train in-house staff to carry out the analysis when needed.
2. To Migrate Legacy Data
Data migration involves moving data from an old application to a new one. It’s not as simple as copying and pasting it because the new application will have a different database structure from the old one.
Effective data migration requires detailed planning. You need to determine the data to move into the new EHR and the data that can be left in the legacy application or a data archive.
The level of detail required can be enormous, and it is wise to engage the services of an experienced consultant. You need to hire a firm with a proven track record of success with the type of EHRs you are dealing with.
3. To Improve Information System Security
Healthcare data is desirable to hackers. While some cybercriminals prefer to block access to vital patient data and ask for a ransom, some steal patient data to sell in the dark market.
In recent years, data breaches have been on the rise in the healthcare industry. A report published in the HIPAAJournal showed that data breaches increased by 37.4% from 2019 to 2018, and the patient records exposed to hackers increased from 13.9 million to 41.3 million within the same period.
The present security threats make it imperative to hire a consultant that specializes in security. They will conduct a security audit, risk assessment, and proffer solutions to reduce the risk of a data breach. Your consultant will also create a failsafe data backup system that will help you recover quickly if you experience a cyber attack.
Contact Us to Speak With an EMR Connection Consultant
To discover if your present situation requires a working partnership with a consultant, give us a call today at 877.522.8378. You can book a free consultation and see a free demo of some of our EHR solutions.