In order to maximize the effectiveness of your EMR, use the system in a portable device like a tablet. Nitin Chhoda explains how this portable tablet device can make your physical therapy documentation much easier than using a desktop computer alone.
How does an electronic medical record turn into a truly portable EMR?
There’s really just one way to make sure that information is recorded and communicated as efficiently as possible, and that’s by adding tablet computers to your practice.
Many health care practice management professionals are very hesitant to consider this kind of technological change, but this is the change that will be coming and it’s better to get out in front than to follow in this field.
It turns out that you can get tablet computers for the staff members who need them for a big discount, as a health care provider. Additionally, since you are willing to order a larger number than the average consumer, you can also rely on a bulk discount.
While many managers consider this portable EMR too much of an investment, tablet computers do not cost as much as you might think.
Making it Easy to Bill
EMR solutions can streamline many of the tasks that are accomplished every day in a health care practice. No more pulling and re-filing of paper records. No more waiting to re-schedule a patient or to fill an empty slot recently cancelled. And most importantly, no more waiting for the details of the medical billing that must be done to get the practice paid.
The good news is that financial staff, including accountants, medical coders, and medical billers, are used to using pretty complex software to accomplish their jobs.
If they have transferred from one job to another, they know how to adjust and adapt to new software quickly.
Billing Staff Can Adjust
Medical billing staff are usually the first to hit their stride with an EMR and they are the first to start bringing in some revenue as a result of their improved efficiency and accuracy.
But to allow for this kind of efficiency and speed, the billing staff has to have access to the medical records and the clinicians notes about each visit. The way to speed up this process is to give clinicians portable EMR and tools so they can simply enter their notes and instantly save them to somewhere that the biller can access them.
Clinicians Will Adjust to the Right EMR Solution
Another concern is that clinicians will resist the change from a paper notepad to a tablet computer. Many clinicians have been working with pen and paper their entire lives and the thought of changing now is pretty intimidating.
For the younger generation of clinicians, the switch will not be so hard. But any time you try to change the way someone does something, like having EMR, you’ll come up against some resistance.
The right EMR software and solution will make the job of clinicians easier. Reviewing files that are always available at their fingertips will become the habit.
They never have to wait or dig through a lot of irrelevant information if the EMR presents their notes in an easy-to-read and logical manner. Tablet computers can organize information in the way that we think, making it easier and faster for us to do what we need to do.
