Benefiting From A Medical Records Program
In the last few years a lot of doctors have had to wonder if paper patient medical records would be better than a simple electronic medical records program. Some doctors may already be left behind as other competing private practices may have already upgraded their systems. While some doctors look at this system as the future of healthcare, still others feel like things are fine the way they are. To find out if a system would benefit your office, staff and patients, you have to know what a medical records program can do for you.
Keeping Medical Finances In Check
A medical records program is not just a list of patient’s files that includes history of their last visits. It can also be used in conjunction with a practice management software package to keep office expenses inline. It can keep track of charges that were made to individual patients and it will basically show you where the money is going. This will help cut down on costs that have nothing to do with patient care. Additionally, with an EMR system, you will save a lot of money because your office will no longer need to buy tons of printing paper and toner to keep up with the paper flow and charts.
A solid medical records program will keep exact records of everything, so if you end up being audited (yes, it unfortunately does happen) you will have all the information you need. It will apply all of the billing codes correctly. It will also help to keep track of any price increase or decrease for wide array of services.
24 Hour Access
Effective EMR software will allow you to access the records of your patient at any time of day or night. There is no need for the physician to be in the office to double-check paper work, and you no longer have to bring work home with you. With the right setup, you can securely login from anywhere – even using your mobile phone.
Increased Patient Convenience
Patients can avoid long phone calls or short visits to create a new appointment to see a doctor. With a properly configured system, the patient can go online to see the appointment schedule and can also check their files and test results from the comfort of their own home.
Improved Patient Care
Your patients can feel a bit safer knowing that with a robust EMR software system, there will be a lot less mistakes made during and after their visit. With all data entered via keyboard or portable communications device, there will be no worries that the doctor’s handwriting is illegible. A properly configured EMR system will work to make sure that patients get the correct dose of medicine each time and the system will alert the doctor if two or more medications do not interact well together.
No system is perfect, but when it comes to paper patient records versus a well designed medical records program, there is no contest.
