Electronic Health Reporter

Guest post by Tim Scott, chief operating officer, American Medical Software.

Owning and running a practice doesn’t come without its barriers and certain difficulties. That’s why the selection, evaluation, purchase, and integration of a medical software system that is right for you and your practice is of innate importance. Having the correct software system will let your practice run more efficiently and effectively, all while adding to your bottom-line.

Choosing Medical Software that is Perfect for Your Practice

There are several variables to keep in mind when deciding on a software system for your practice; not the least of which are the initial financial investment, overall upkeep and maintenance costs, and the quality of technical support.

A good characteristic to look at when deciding on a software system is comprehensive integration, with data seamlessly connected and shared between scheduling, billing, and electronic medical records. In order to see a rise in efficiency in your day-to-day procedures and routines, your data should be instantly accessible, both onsite and remotely, and formatted to be easily read.

Now let’s talk budgeting: It’s important to properly calculate your practice’s current financial standings so you can have an idea of the system that is right for you. Software options can either be purchased directly or leased to purchase.

Practices will be able to identify outstanding transactions, which will result in more efficient strategies for both collecting income and preventing loss of income.

Track Patients More Efficiently and Increase Productivity within Your Practice

Another element to running a more successful practice relates to maximizing patient workflow and staff productivity. The importance in tracking your patients cannot be understated, and utilizing the right software system is the essential step towards tracking patients most effectively and increasing overall staff productivity within a practice.

As owners of a practice, two things that can be intrinsically frustrating are patient “no-shows” and lost revenue from canceled or missed appointments. Well, utilizing scheduling software can help track and manage your patient’s appointments to avoid these situations from ever happening again. Managing this data under the right system can promote management strategies that can foresee patient trends so practices can plan accordingly. For example, a practice can provide reminders or alerts to those patients with a history of canceling or missing appointments to maintain patient volume.

These medical software systems also have the ability to verify patient eligibility the day they come in, or even before whenever their appointment is scheduled for. Obviously this drastically reduces wasted time within your staff and increases time for patient care, resulting in a far more efficient practice.

Organize Clinical Data with Ease through EHR Integration

Now to talk about clinical reporting within your practice. Organization cannot be easier and more efficient when utilizing a software system to help manage your practice. Below are some practical techniques that can help you see large benefits within your practice:

– Organizing patient’s reports through demographics, supplementals, and more.
– Easily locate patients using recently recalled medications.
– Filter your records so that you can locate patients that need updated tests or screenings.
– Compile and run reports that can help you identify things like missed appointments, tests, failed medication adjustments and more.
– Utilize custom reporting tactics to be leveraged for marketing campaigns to certain patients with specific conditions or demographic characteristics for better preventative care.
– Generate tasks and alerts related to data gathered and maintained within your EHR system to ensure physicians within your practice have all the necessary information to provide the best care and service for their patients.
– Have quick access to any and all secure patient data so providers can be proactive in regards to changes in reimbursement requirements, practice/clinical workflow, and Meaningful Use requirements as things change within the medical industry.
– Eliminate unnecessary or duplicate tests/treatments and deliver greater patients benefits with lower costs and improved patient care by reducing double entry and re-entry through the use of a fully integrated EHR/PM system.

Efficiency in a practice can ultimately be tied to finding ways to limit overall time wasted as well as staff resources wasted. Implementing a fully-integrated EHR system can assist any practice in becoming streamlined and profitable.