Electronic health or medical records have been mandatory practice for hospitals and health systems for a few years now, but some practitioners and administrators might still have trouble wrapping their heads around why this system is better than traditional paper charting and faxing. There are tons of pros to using an EHR system once it’s all set up and running smoothly, although sometimes getting to that point can admittedly take some time and energy. All in all, though, systems like the chargemaster software or the Meditech EHR software can go a long way to smoothing out the operations of a hospital.
Information
First and foremost, EHRs allow doctors and staff to access the most accurate and up-to-date information on every patient who walks through their door. Because they can chart on the computer while talking to the patient, everything in their file is updated in real-time, so no one is looking for a file or waiting for it to be returned to the correct area in the office.
They also provide a more seamless experience for sharing this information with other doctors’ offices, hospitals or health systems. Electronic records can easily be sent over to another doctor, and they will immediately have all of the patient information at their fingertips. They won’t have to continue requesting extra documents, or that test results be sent over because they’ll have access to the entire patient history, chart, results and visit notes. This makes it much easier to coordinate care with multiple physicians or specialists.
Time
Time is a valuable commodity in a hospital, and no one can afford to waste it. Certain EHR systems are intuitive enough to help the person using them save as much time as possible. Things like coding suggestions, treatment course reminders and AI visit transcribing can all save nurses and doctors the time it usually takes to create a comprehensive, compliant chart. It also helps to improve accuracy in the file and keeps health professionals from making mistakes like prescribing medicines that might interact with other existing prescriptions.
Billing
EHR systems can even help your billing department by auto-populating the correct billing codes for the services rendered. Some can even create an entire invoice on their own, so your billing department can focus on more important matters.
EHR systems are a great asset to hospitals because they help to provide accurate information, save time and streamline the billing process.
