The Benefits of Combining EHR and PM Systems

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• The Benefits of Combining EHR and PM Systems
• Electronic health record (EHR) systems are
  valuable tools. So are medical practice
  management (PM) systems.
• As powerful as they are on their own, when
  theyre combined, theyre even better. Using them
  together could help health care offices do so
  much for their practices and their patients.
• Update and access patient information
• First and foremost, electronic health records are
  patients health charts in digital formats.
• They contain extensive notes about patients
  visits. These records often chronicle
• Dates of appointments.
• Conditions that the appointments addressed and
  treated.
• Prescribed medications as well as their dosages
  and dates.
• Results of lab tests.
• Immunization history.
• How patients reacted to procedures, medications,
  other treatments, and immunizations.
• Given the dynamic nature of health care and
  medical offices, this information isnt static.
  Professionals often revise and add to these
  records as conditions change.

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Work safely with other professionals Combining
EHR and PM systems benefits more than just the
office that owns these software programs. The
interaction could help other offices the medical
practice works with on a regular basis. For
example, a general practitioner may want to send
a patient with an eye condition to an eye care
specialist for consultation and treatment. Using
EHR and PM systems could make this referral
easier. The general practice physicians practice
could use both to gather and send the patients
pertinent health information to the
specialist. Instead of doing this using physical
files that may be lost or stolen, the practices
could exchange this information
digitally. Safety is still a consideration,
though, and EHRs and PMs help ensure that. To
ensure the safety of sensitive and protected
health data, a medical office might choose to
encrypt the information in the patients
file. Encryption is the process of translating
information into indecipherable strings of
letters and numbers. People who want to
understand this information will need tools
called keys to decipher it. The general
practitioner and specialist could exchange such
keys and take other measures, such as using
programs to monitor and isolate malicious
software, to keep valuable data secure. Handle
sales tasks Joining EHRs and PMs could also help
a health care offices bottom line by helping
make sales easier. Many practices sell medical
aids and devices as part of their commitment to
patient care. Eye specialists might sell
eyeglasses and contact lenses through their
physical locations and/or through their
website. After examinations, medical
professionals could enter their patients eyewear
prescriptions into EHR systems. Patients and
opticians could retrieve these prescriptions when
theyre choosing eyewear. Practice management
and product-related programs could also help
determine which eyewear products are available,
place and track orders,
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update product stock and inventory numbers,
generate bills, and perform other tasks. As an
added bonus, software systems could help convert
patients into repeat customers. Since they record
when patients have visited offices for
appointments and when theyve ordered products,
the systems could create and send timely
reminders that their specialists are eager to
assist them with their current and future
needs. Submit and manage insurance
claims Medical software helps generate revenue
by simplifying the sales process, but it could
also generate insurance revenue. Accuracy is one
of the major benefits of electronic health
records. That is, theyre a comprehensive and
accurate chronicle of a persons medical
history. Thoroughness and correct information
are vital when medical providers are submitting
claims to their patients health insurance
providers. Without the correct, complete
information, medical professionals may take
longer to find the insurance companies codes
for diagnoses, treatments, and procedures. Or,
they may submit the wrong information
entirely. Incomplete or inaccurate information
may lead insurance companies to delay or reject
claims. Medical offices may need to resubmit
information for incomplete claims or submit
appeals to dispute ones that have been
denied. Delays mean that offices and patients
might be spending additional time on claims,
adding frustration to an already-complex process.
It also means that insurance companies might
also delay their payments to health care
offices. By leveraging accurate information from
EHRs and applying it to practice management
systems and their insurance processes, medical
practices could handle insurance matters and
payments easier and quicker. Incorporate digital
patient portals Integrating EHRs and PMs does
more than help medical professionals. It could
assist their patients as well.
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Both systems could work together to create a
digital patient portal. Online portals
incorporate all the medical information found in
a patients electronic health record and use it
like a practice management system would. So, if
a patient wants to learn when theyve had
immunizations for certain diseases, they could
log into their portal to research this. Once on
the portal, they could see listings of the
immunizations theyve received from that
particular health care provider. During this
search, the patient might discover that its been
a while since they received a certain vaccine.
Using the patient portals communication
features, the patient could send a message to
their health care professional to ask if they
should receive that particular vaccine, and if
so, when. Or, health care providers might search
their patients records for immunization records.
After these searches, they could send reminders
to patients via patient portal, email, or text
that they might want to schedule immunizations or
other preventative services. Portals help
patients and their medical providers stay
informed. Like other features of EHR and PM
systems, portals are tools that aim to make
health care simpler and more efficient for
everyone. Are you looking for ways to
incorporate such tools into your own office? Call
Eye Care Leaders. Well help you choose, install,
and unify electronic health record and practice
management systems and other solutions that could
help you treat patients and manage office tasks.