To make transition from paper charts to electronic records may seem impossible if your practice has been using paper records for a long time. Although the process can be lengthy, the end product is well worth the effort. Hospitals utilize a variety of electronic health records to store hermetical bath data and patient records, arrange patient visits, remind doctors about lab results or other scheduled activities, and communicate with patients online. Billing, reporting, insurance reimbursement, and other administrative activities can be made easier using the EHR system.
Implementation of Electronic Health Records
It might be challenging to transition to a new EHR when health care providers are only familiar with paper records or an outdated system. For early adoption and quick adaptations, it’s critical to pay attention to the system’s overall security and privacy, as well as an emphasis on complete training. Quality EHR installation requires a well-thought-out plan that specifies the relevant activities and order of tasks and regular and clear communication with the entire health care team.
How to Make a Plan for EHR Implementation
Your EHR deployment strategy should ideally focus on three important areas. Time, cost, and scope are three of them. To begin, you’ll need to set aside enough time for the installation process. Second, you should assess your financial resources and stick to a budget. Third, be specific about your objectives and decide which EHR features are critical to your clinic. Bellmedex is a medical billing company provides medical billing and coding services. BellMedex’s cloud-based EHR is built for usability, performance, and reliability. We deliver advanced features to healthcare providers without breaking the bank! Here’s what we can offer
What are the Steps in EHR Implementation?
Any form of EHR is going to take a long time to install. For the majority of users, there will also be a learning curve. A well-thought-out approach can help the process go as smoothly as possible. There are following steps will help you start your EHR implementation strategy:
Establish a Clear EHR Implementation Roadmap
Begin by developing a strategy based on your facility’s and clinicians’ unique requirements. That is the moment to make the outline you’ll utilize throughout the process and figure out the most important jobs.
Its best if you start by examining the readiness of your facility as you construct your roadmap. You may need to investigate your facility’s existing IT infrastructure, current documentation processes, and the types of training modules available to support your implementation plan.
Organize an EHR Implementation Group
After that, you’ll need to figure out who will be in charge of the implementation and who will be crucial actors throughout the project. You’ll need a strong and committed staff to cope with any issues that emerge along the route.
Three crucial players should be on your team. You’ll need a lead superuser first. That is the individual who will be identified as an EHR expert. They should design templates and creative workflows and promptly resolve issues. Second, you’ll require the services of a lead physician. This individual will act as a connection between IT and the clinical personnel using the system.
Create Financial Budget
Implementing a new system will cost your practice money, and nearly all practices discover the cost to be higher than projected. A budget should account for apparent costs like network upgrades, training fees, lost productivity, and unforeseen costs.
Data Transfer
As you construct your budget, consider the return on your investment. You don’t want to spend more money on your EHR than you can recoup.
The next stage in adopting certified EHR software is data transfer from your old system once your infrastructure is ready. Begin by determining the most convenient way for both patients and doctors. Thanks to seamless data migration, clinical personnel are less frustrated, and user buy-in is higher. Consider the following suggestions to make data transfer easier:
- Specifying the migration settings, such as what needs to be transferred and how big the backup should be.
- Data entry personnel receive training.
- Making a workflow document to ensure data entry is as clear as possible
- Ensure that all data is entered correctly by checking and double-checking it.
- Keeping the charts on paper in a secure location
Sessions for Electronic Health Records Training
To persuade your employees to buy into the new EHR system, you must look at the training side of your EHR deployment at this point. The training should be comprehensive and tailored to the specific needs of the participants, emphasizing the many advantages of an EHR and how to install one properly. Consider the following as part of this Electronic health records implementation step:
- Putting together a highly qualified training staff
- Assigning super users to serve as departmental contact points
- Creating a training schedule with clear objectives
- Adapting the training to the present skill levels of users
- Staff should be encouraged to follow along in real-time for a hands-on experience.
Create Procedures in Case your EHR goes down
Unfortunately, in your facility, EHR downtime will be a reality. Even if you are spared from unplanned outages. The EHR network will be unavailable from time to time for updates and maintenance. Knowing how you’ll manage these situations will help you run your facility more efficiently.
Using paper charts as a backup option for managing EHR outages is possible. You must make sure that clinicians are aware of the protocols for downtime. Keep a paper copy of downtime instructions on hand, as well as have them accessible on the cloud so that your team can access the protocols that have been approved for your clinic. Also, make sure you have a plan in place for informing everyone about scheduled downtimes.
Reflection on the Launch
The stages of EHR deployment do not end with go-live; your EHR system’s debut is only the beginning.
After the launch, think about optimizing areas like:
- Reduce patient frustrations by focusing on patient satisfaction.
- Levels of productivity: Set modest goals for your employees to stay motivated.
- Calculate progress toward goal criteria to determine the return on investment.
- Data collecting, billing, and reporting are all things that need to be done.
Inquire about Feedback
The fact that the EHR is in place does not guarantee that everything is in order. There is always space for improvement, and the employees who use the EHR are the greatest people to give input. Requesting input demonstrates your commitment to improving the system over time.
In the follow-up evaluations, pay attention to numerous crucial factors, such as physician satisfaction, patient pleasure, overall efficiency and productivity, return on investment, and the number of data inaccuracies. You can do this in various methods, including paper or electronic surveys, personal chats, and forums. Decide which strategy is best for your employees and customers.
Reasons for Investing in EHR
For healthcare organization
- Improved patient care
- Optimized decision making
- User-friendly system
- Practices efficiency and cost savings
- Improved care coordination
For technology providers
- To increase profitability
- High market demand
- For rapid market growth
- Attracting high profile customers
EHRs’ capacity to electronically communicate health information can help you provide better and safer treatment for your patients while also improving your bottom line.
EHRs assist providers in better managing patient care and providing better health care by allowing them to:
- At the point of care, providing accurate, up-to-date, and full information about patients
- Sharing electronic information with patients and other physicians in a secure manner
- Assisting clinicians in making more accurate diagnoses, reducing medical errors, and providing safer care.
- Helping providers enhance productivity and work-life balance by improving the privacy and security of patient data
- Providing providers with the tools they need to increase productivity and achieve their business objectives.
- Reducing expenses by reducing paperwork, improving safety, reducing testing duplication, and improving health.
To overcome the primary technical challenges, strategic planning for national infrastructure. Encouraging private sector enterprises to invest more, and establishing a team of professionals to lead-related initiatives are advised.
