Patient EHR Education: A Slow Process

In a recent article published on the online survey conducted by Xerox, a company with over 75 years of experience in document management and helping organizations become efficient businesses, revealed that “majority of Americans (83 percent) have concerns, such as security, about EHRs and less than one-third (32 percent) want their medical records to be digital (compared to 82 percent and 26 percent in 2010, respectively).”

The notion of change is hardly encouraging, and with that in mind, how would providers fill the need to educate and involve their patients in engaging them in EHR Education? And as Healthcare providers who are seeking to achieve Meaningful Use Stage 2 incentives “which first become available for hospitals on Oct. 1, will have one year to make patients’ medical records available via online portals and must have 5 percent of their patients actually access the data. Currently, only 19 percent of the U.S. adults surveyed have access to their medical records online.” The stats are not encouraging as the push towards EHR adoption by Obama’s administration is clear.

As federal mandate demands that patients need to educate consumers about digital medical records. To train patients along with other staff members should be one of the top most priorities of the providers.

Familiarity with the Patient Portal is one platform, providers can use as a testing ground to improve provider-patient interaction. With Patient Portal, providers can schedule an appointment and communicate with their patients directly, by doing so they can avoid unnecessary visits of the patient to the practice. Training a patient to use online Patient Portal can be time consuming process, some patients may not be apt in using the online platform and it may very well be a headache for them.

To train require a special slot of time that providers need to take out for their patients. EHR education has been a slow for the patients primarily because of the untrained staff, and patients’ lack of interest in learning a new set of system which is either too slow or too difficult to learn.

As the EHR software improve and the need for patients to take active role in their patient engagement increases, the process of educating patients on EHR though a slow process will need to take an active part.

Read more: EMR Support – The Overlooked Questions

How are EHR better than EMR systems?

When it comes to using an EHR or EMR, one is far superior to the other. Let’s see which one performs advanced functions.

First of all, let’s elucidate how EHR and EMR are distinct from each other in a single word, interoperability. EHR is essentially an EMR with interoperability: the ability by which an EHR can share and exchange data among different platforms of healthcare. With one feature that makes EHR a better software than EMR, let’s move forward and see what other edges EHR has over  EMR.

EMRs limit the data of a patient to a facility. So, what happens in an EMR is that medical information of a patient is collected, changed, and discussed with providers and staff within a single organization. In the process of using an EHR, integrated data is shared, consulted, managed among more than one healthcare facility with providers and their staff; allowing providers and practitioners to be efficient in reaching out to the patient.

EHRs allow the information to be transformed systematically with the patient, allowing the process of going to a specialist, the hospital and even moving across states reachable between patient’s healthcare providers and practices. EMR lacks this capacity to reach beyond a single organization.

A simple yet very powerful feature of an EHR is that it reduces paperwork across platforms. The usage of data stored on printed paper is reduced by allowing the electronic data to be transferred seamlessly across multitudes of healthcare providers. EMR can save paper of a single organization, and the limiting factor of an EMR is that the data of a patient needs to be printed to take out of the organization while EHR because of its extensive reach is able to transcend this limitation.

EHR allows even the patients’ to see their past medical log for the past year. This compelling feature is absent in an EMR. It allows the patients’ to simulate energy in them to change their lifestyle; encouraging them to take medication with regularity, essentially decreasing the burden on the provider and improving their health.

With an , you can achieve higher Rate of Investment (ROI) by exchanging the data electronically among organizations, the healthcare providers save their costs in terms of reduction of staff members needed to mange patients’ data and the need to transfer patients’ information from one healthcare provider to another. Apart from that, EHR eliminates the need to do redundant tests on patients’ in turn saving costs.

In essence, EHR provides a higher degree of clinical decision making information by integrating patient data from numerous sources and with that it not only saves costs but proves itself a better system than an EMR.

Read more about: Avoid EHR Switching Mistakes To Save Your Practice From Unnecessary Costs

EMR – Thinking Outside the Box

Electronic Medical Records are an innovative tool for our healthcare system. With the paper file system running its due course, we have perfected it to the point where there are no further improvements or benefits derived.

Not just about record keeping anymore, EMR is transforming the healthcare industry. Electronic Medical Records not only overcome the limitations of traditional systems but offer unique possibilities of health information exchange, storage, access and retrieval. Data mining capabilities can add new dimensions to healthcare delivery along with medical research. Physicians can improve care quality through personalization and along with governments, determine better resource utilization to accommodate situations such as outbreaks and epidemics.

Slowly realizing the tremendous potential of interoperable EHRs, physicians, with the new age of healthcare knocking on the door, must adapt to newer technologies or risk becoming obsolete. A general health Florida based physician explained how he chose to adopt EMR “I had this lady come in with her grandson and she wanted me to provide her with an online health record along with access to the lab results. She explained how her grandson helps her look it up on the computer which saves her a phone call and sometimes even a trip. I just had to do it.”

With the advent of Accountable Care Organizations, the government is trying to replace the “fee for service method” with performance related compensation supporting evidence based practices. A dedicated fund for healthcare reform, the government plans to eradicate inefficiencies that have their roots deep inside the heart of the healthcare tree. Electronic Medical Record solutions are the answer for numerous problems faced by physicians today. From increasing productivity at the practices by streamlining clinical , administrative and financial workflows, EMR solution solutions are changing the face of the industry as we know it.

Read more: What you need to know about ACOs

Meaningful use timeline [Infographic]

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HIPAA security compliance how Important is it? [Infographic]

EMR – Does Certification Matter

All key stakeholders in the Health IT industry such as care providers, experts, consultants, hospitals and practices are aware of the financial incentives instigated through the Meaningful Use program set up by the government. They are also aware of the requirements such as usage of Certified EMRs – a crucial component of the program that has been encouraging providers to adopt EHRs which have been certified. Hence, it is through the Meaningful Use program that the providers will be able to gain the incentives.

Considering that most physicians are not affiliated with modern technologies, many physicians in the United States do not have the awareness of Electronic Health Records and its certifications. Most think that an EHR software certified with CCHIT is the benchmark for a certified EMR  software product. What they do not realize is that it is not the approval of CCHIT that is the main requirement, it is actually the set of measures needed to be conformed to, based on which providers can get eh financial incentives for Meaningful Use. The set of measures include components such as the electronic recording of patient demographics, integration, and timely communication with patients, CPOE (Computerized Physician Order Entry), security parameters and information exchange with healthcare stakeholders.

An Ohio based consultant said, “The biggest dilemma amongst physicians, today, is the failure to understand the concept of Certified EHRs. Be it any industry, certification of a certain product comes by meeting the minimum requirements set by controlling authorities”

With the advent in modern technologies and regular upgrades to regulations by the government aimed at developing Electronic Health Records as an industry standard for the future, there is no doubt that such technologies provide physicians , patients and the whole industry with numerous benefits. It is therefore, crucial that providers select the right vendor and the ideal product for their practices.

A Nebraska based Health IT consultant said, “I can recall several so called “certified EHRs” which have caused disappointments amongst physicians. It is not always a one sided game, where vendors need to be careful while marketing their products. Physicians shouldn’t be negligent either while purchasing the product”.

Choosing an EMR – The Checklist

In the last part of this blog, I concluded that most care providers are unaware of the many different Electronic Medical Record (EMR) software solutions and the plethora of vendors making them available in the market. The notable reason for this is the general lack of awareness and how care providers are not tech-oriented, which is why they fail to comprehend the many advantages they can avail from EMR software’s and how getting to use one at their practices would be something unordinary.

I also pointed out that experts have suggested availing the full benefits of modern technology by opting for an EMR solution that is capable of integration with a Practice Management Software, Patient Portal and Medical Billing Service, so that providers can streamline and overhaul their clinical, administrative and financial workflows – making their work easy, efficient, profitable and reliable.

A Michigan based physician says, “My all-in-one EMR software solution is not only innovative but also affordable. From documenting clinical encounters to performing billing operations, I can do it all from a single platform. In fact, it is so affordable that even a solo provider could afford to automate practice workflows”

As the industry is moving towards patient engagement, and where patients want more control in their health care delivery process, it is important for providers to give them that opportunity. They can easily empower patients by opting for an EMR software that is integrated with a Patient Portal. This will also help providers in achieving Meaningful Use.

Also, another important point that providers should look at, Is whether they can trust their vendors for the products they say they are offering. Many providers would say that they are providing Patient Portals, when they might actually not – hence it is imperative that you choose a Certified vendor – who is CCHIT certified and HIPAA compliant so that you can qualify for incentives provided by the government.

As a care provider, you also have to make sure that you opt for a specialty specific EMR software solution, which caters to the specialties of providers at your practice. Research suggests that specialty specific EMR software’s help in improving productivity at the practice. Since the EMR software will be customized according to your specific specialty workflows, it will be easier for you to use the system.

The advent of modern technologies has lead to the evolution of EMR software’s as we know them. Clinical decision support systems, transcription, electronic prescriptions and point and click technologies have paved the way for EMR software success in the industry.

With every passing day, with patient’s health information being stored in EMR software systems across the nation, it has become crucial to safeguard such confidential data. Hence, providers should be on the lookout for secure systems which are in compliance with government security protocols.

Just like any other investment you make, an EMR software solution is your tool to optimize your workflows so that you get more reward from your business.