Most Americans work hard for their money. But until you’ve seen the action at a physician’s office on a daily basis, you may not really know the concept of “busy”. Imagine seeing 50 or 100 patients each day, many encountering problems or managing pain. Now imagine having to diagnose problems, order laboratory tests and X-rays and then prescribe the correct medication to deal with illness. It’s a lot to manage and take care of, to be sure. Fortunately, EMR software offers physicians the ability to control and be aware of all issues with their patients, while also cutting down on stress.
Despite the major advances in healthcare and medicine in general, it’s a harsh paradox that physicians themselves have been such late users of EMR and medical billing software. Many medical practitioners still use paper medical records, record treatments and bills on paper or with rudimentary UNIX systems, when they could be benefiting from the major efficiency benefits of today’s GUI-oriented EMR systems. Recent Federal Government stimulus funds have been focused on providing EMR software to medical practitioners, and the higher awareness has led to a stronger installed base. The intelligent medical practitioner knows that all systems are not equal however, and needs to understand these crucial EMR points:
Put It On Automatic - EMR software certainly isn’t going to run your medical practice or clinic by itself. But, it will place a lot of repetitive tasks (such as needless typing of appointment letters and billing statements) on the fast track to real efficiency. One idea many medical practitioners do not know, however, is that the highest quality EMR software systems are rarely just “out of the box”. The intelligent physician can have custom features built-in during the installation process, as needs arise. The limits to those features are only the imagination at this point, as applications are already very advanced.
Business Condition Reporting - With the assistance of Federal Stimulus incentives, many physicians have been able to additionally adopt a full practice management system with medical billing to their EMR software. The resulting benefits are major, as it allows both medical office managers and medical practitioners to get a financial bird’s eye view of their practices. Quality systems will usually provide templates for several crucial accounting reports, such as accounts payable and receivables, but also provide customizable demographic reports. Seeing the billing and cash flow scenario in your practice with a simple click should be a benefit to look for with your EMR.
Customization And Your Practice - Recent Federal Stimulus dollars have heated up the EMR software industry, which really improves things for medical practitioners. Now, customized features that hadn’t even been invented a short time ago are standard in most high quality products. But what many medical practitioners don’t know, however, is that there are no limits when it comes to imagining new EMR features. Meanwhile, a developer who says, “you can’t do that” or “not gonna happen” is probably worth getting away from. Be reasonable, but unreasonable with your developer, and you will get 110% out of the system you want.
Operating a medical clinic with basic paper records has become tougher as American patient demographics transform over time. More patients to assist means less free time for you, and any tool that builds practice efficiency is a good one. EMR software is a major benefit for physicians looking to develop efficiency and compete, and will continue to be a force for some time to come.
Workflow efficiency can be vital to how electronic medical records help the medical practice. See http://www.electronicmedicalrecords.org/ to receive a no charge demonstration copy of state-of-the-art practice management software, and browse through case studies of just how medical doctors have had good results.