Software Solutions/EHR

Why Your Practice Should Embrace Electronic Health Records…Now!

Tamara Kuhlmann, OD, has access to electronic patient records in every exam room in her practice.

Tamara Kuhlmann, OD, has access to electronic patient records in every exam room in her practice.

By ROB Editors

EHR Systems Save Time and Money.

An investment now could gain more than $100,000 back in a year. It cuts down on the staff time spent per patient, which reduces overhead and makes more room in the day to see patients. So revenue goes up while costs goes down.

Time savings 8 minutes per patient

10 patients a day 80 minutes per day

Extra exams possible 5 exams per day x $100 per exam

25 more exams per week 52 weeks = $130,000/ year extra income (exams only)

Data Mining will Guide Your Growth.
Electronic records let you sift through how your practice is performing. You can know exactly how many glaucoma patients you have, how many contact lens wearers with backup eyewear, how many 35-year-old men with Type 2 diabetes are being seen at least yearly. Finding what your practice is doing will also tell you what it isn’t doing, and point the way to expanding your practice.

More Financial Incentives are Coming.
Beginning in 2011, ODs can receive thousands in Medicare or Medicaid incentives (paid out over five years) if they’re using an EHR system that has been certified by the Certification Commission for Health Information (CCHIT), a volunteer industry group. Congress included funding for this in the $787 billion stimulus package it approved in February 2009. As of January 2010, no vendor had earned this level of CCHIT certification, but make sure your vendor is working toward it.

To learn more about what Uncle Sam wants of you:

CCHIT
The Certification Commission is an independent nonprofit organization recognized as the federal government’s certification body for electronic health records. Its mission is to accelerate the adoption of robust, interoperable health information technology by creating a credible, efficient certification process.
http://www.cchit.org/

HHS
The U.S. Department of Health &Human Services provides an overview of standards for EHR records and posts annoucnements iof EHR grant programs.
http://www.hhs.gov/recovery/

HIT
Found here are the latest proposed rules reggarding Medicare’s EHR incentive program for eligible professions.
http://healthit.hhs.gov/portal/server.pt?open=512&objID=1325&parentname=CommunityPage&parentid=1&mode=2

CHECKLISTS

What You Need an EHR System to Do

  • Scheduling
  • Intake documentation
  • Exam documentation
  • Ability to import frame and lens data
  • Ability to order and track jobs
  • Ability to easily create reports
  • Ability to import reports
  • Ability to manage recall
  • Ability to assign and manage staff tasks and projects
  • Intraoffice communication

Choosing a System

Talk to colleagues. The best way for ODs to choose EHR software is to talk with others who have already done it. Such a system should successfully integratecomputers,diagnostic instruments, ordering of contact lenses, glasses, billing, electronic claims submissions, recallsand letter writing.

Visit an EHR practice. Thedoctor and two key staff members should then spendan entire day in an office that is paperless. Watch and ask questions. Watch thepatient flow and seeing how the technology would fit into your office.

Make sure everything ties in. Buying software is much more important than buying a new instrument. Instruments will typically help with a single disease or a few diseases. An EHR systemneeds to seamlessly tie your entire office together: instruments, records, authorizations, ordering, recalls, letters, billing and collections. So look for a system that can be customized to meet your specific needs.

Check out the company. Select a company that is solvent, invests in software development and has excellent support and training. Plus, industry certification requirements are evolving, and your vendor has to be able to keep up.

Get staff buy-in. The key to convincing staff to get on board with an EHR system: It will make their jobs easier and more gratifying. Let them know that non-productive tasks likepulling records, moving records and re-filing records will be a thing of the past.

What to Look for in an EHR System
  • Easy to use
  • Stable
  • Excellent software support
  • Comprehensive
  • Easy mechanism for software updates
  • Debugged software updates
  • Easy to access staff training
Implementation Questions
  • Tablets or keyboards?
  • How many access points?
  • Wired or wireless?
  • Can you use existing equipment?
  • Where does training occur?
  • Scan or enter existing paper records?
Practice Profiles

Tamara Kuhlmann, OD, Powell, Ohio
“Stop Using Paperweights!”

Paperwork is not what Dr. Tamara Kuhlmann, OD, had in mind when she went into optometry 27 years ago. It ate up too much time as she and staff members filled out forms by hand or hunted down patient records. Paperwork also allowed too many errors. read more>

Thomas Overberg, OD, Fremont, Ohio
“The Paperless Practice”

The practice of Thomas J. Overberg, OD, in Fremont, Ohio (www.droverberg.com), has been paperless since 1996. Why did he make the switch so early? read more>

Kim Castleberry, OD, Plano, Texas
“The Pace of Change is Accelerating for Electronic Health Records and All the Rest”

When it comes to practice management software and electronic medical records, change really is the only constant, says Kim Castleberry, OD, who runs a $2 million a year practice in Plano, Texas. read more>

An IT Expert Advises

Wes Strickling, Columbus, Ohio
“Choosing an EHR System”

The benefits of an EHR system are clear – it can make your practice more efficient and profitable, and improve patient care. But experts will tell you, it’s got to be a good fit. read more>

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