Healthcare organizations seek an EMR consulting firm for many reasons. Apart from achieving regulatory compliance, many healthcare providers have high expectations for their EMR systems. The initial intention is to boost the quality of care, reduce medical errors, mitigate the cost of operations, and improve public health.
However, after the initial euphoria of moving from paper-based records to an EMR system, many providers face certain realities. For many providers, the results do not pan out as intended.
Let’s see how working with an experienced EMR consulting firm can help boost physician productivity and improve patient outcomes.
1. Reduce the Data Entry Workload
While electronic medical record systems can provide instant access to patient data, they also increase the volume of data entry tasks for most physicians. Many doctors have to spend longer hours thumbing at the keyboard.
Unfortunately, regulations provided by the Center for Medicare Services put the main burden of data entry on doctors. Due to concerns over litigation and the need to comply with strict CMS regulations, physicians are now getting overwhelmed.
In fact, most information captured by other workers in the hospital must be ratified by a physician for it to be useful for diagnosis or treatment. Consequently, there’s a need for providers to spend a lot of time on documentation.
However, with the help of an EMR consultant, the burden on physicians can be greatly reduced. It is not necessary to overload doctors with endless manual data entry. Your consultant can help you develop more intuitive systems that use machine learning to reduce repetitive and redundant data entry.
2. Make Physician Note Taking More Natural
Before EMR systems were widely adopted by hospitals in the U.S., physicians were entering clinical notes into paper charts.
So, they’re used to creating paragraphs of text to document patient information. This contrasts with the field name and field data approach required by most EMR systems. Although this is the most effective way to enter data into a database, it is unnatural for most experienced clinicians.
The cumbersome nature of this data entry approach makes some physicians to resort to a “copy and paste” approach. As a result, patient notes get filled with inaccurate and unreadable data.
3. Improve the Accuracy of Patient Information
Hiring a consultant who is familiar with the challenges of data entry can eliminate dangerous errors in patient data. Your consultant can design a solution that allows experienced and highly skilled health workers like nurses to assist physicians with completing data entry tasks.
This data can be stored in a staging database. After the other health workers have entered the data, the physician can proofread and edit the data before approving it for storage in the main EMR database.
Also, data can be captured directly from medical wearables (equipment that monitors vital signs), laboratories, and radiology equipment. This will eliminate data errors and allow physicians to have more time to interact with patients.
4. Boost the Security of Patient Information
HIPAA regulations require you to provide adequate protection for patient data when it is created, while it is in storage, and when it is sent or received electronically. The first step in compliance with HIPAA regulations is risk assessment. This is best done by a consultant who can help you conduct a detailed audit of your information technology system.
5. Improve the Quality of Diagnosis and Treatment
While EMR implementation may help with meeting regulatory requirements and qualifying for incentives, it must also enhance the primary goal of improving patient outcomes. But you’ll need the help of a seasoned EHR consultant if you notice that, after implementing your EHR, you begin to see fewer patients daily and it reduces time in front of the patient.
Ready for an EMR Consulting Firm to Help Resolve Your Implementation Issues?
Give Lifepoint Informatics a call at 877.522.8378 today. We have been working to improve our clients’ operations and results for over 20 years with more than 20,000 successful projects till date. Take the next step and schedule a free consultation now.