3 Tasks EHR Software Offers That Can Boost Medical Care Quality
Electronic Health Record (EHR) software has become extremely popular among office-based physicians; over 78% of physicians installed the software by 2013. Although the original cost of installing and incorporating the software into the network can be a bit high, 67% of physicians have reported that the software has been able to help them save time through e-prescribing and also improve care coordination.
If you've been on the fence about whether you should install the software or not, here are 5 tasks that the software can offer, which will greatly boost the quality of care that your office can provide.
Follow-up with Patients Using the Recall Module
Most chiropractic offices don't call or email patients with follow-up questions regarding how the experience was, and whether the advice and prescriptions that were prescribed are working for them. The chiropractic EHR software possesses a recall module that will provide reminders or will automatically send email messages to patients in order to follow-up on how everything went, and how their conditions progressed after leaving the clinic.
By understanding how the condition has progressed, chiropractors are able to tailor the treatments to better suit each patient. As a result, patients typically feel that they are treated better and feel more important. Minor problems that are emerging can also be caught early on and treated before they worsen.
Provide Better Means of Communication
Did you know that 75% of all patients would like to be able to go online in order to view their medical history and another 76% would like the ability to be able to view their test results? Before now, patients and all physicians have had a barrier between them that prevents them from being able to directly communicate with one another. Chiropractic EHR software programs can effectively tear down this barrier by providing an online platform for both patients and physicians to communicate.
Patients are not only able to directly view their portfolio and their medical history, but can also view all test results when they arrive at the office. In short, there is no longer a need to wait for weeks in order to hear back from the physicians. In addition, patients are able to track the status of their test results. The online platform also allows patients to directly communicate with their chiropractors by sending voice messages, email messages and more.
Billing Is Quick & Easy
There is nothing more annoying than having to determine how the insurance will pay for the bills later on, and whether the insurance will pay for the bill. With chiropractic EHR software program, the patients' insurance policy can be directly uploaded to the EHR software program. Chiropractors are able to tell within seconds whether the insurance policy will cover the treatments that are being recommended.
The billing is automatic, and will normally be sent by email to patients. Not only is this beneficial for patients, but this service will also be beneficial for the receptionists. Receptionists no longer have to manually calculate the bill and determine where to send it to since everything is done automatically through the software program.
Some chiropractors are hesitant to install EHR software programs, as they are concerned about the additional overhead costs that their business will be responsible for. Luckily, Medicare and Medicaid offer two different incentive programs that can help out financially. The Medicare EHR Incentive Program pays a maximum incentive amount of $44,000 over 5 consecutive years whereas the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program pays a maximum incentive amount of $63,750 over 6 years.
Learn more about these incentive programs if you are concerned with the cost of installing the software. You may find that chiropractic EHR software is a lot more affordable than what it seems.