EHR optimization is the hottest thing since … EHRs
Due in large part to the HITECH Act and the Meaningful Use incentive program, electronic health record (EHR) initiatives have dominated the IT efforts of healthcare providers for the better part of the past decade. Most of the focus over this time has been placed on simply implementing the technology and getting clinicians to embrace it.
Now that more than 95% of hospitals in the U.S. use EHRs*, it seems the focus is beginning to shift. However, the move isn’t away from EHRs to some other groundbreaking technology. Instead, the focus is transferring from EHR implementation to EHR optimization in order to squeeze more value out of it.
You see, most healthcare providers aren’t very happy with the ROI of their multimillion-dollar EHR investments. In fact, only 10% believe they are getting a positive or superb return from their EHRs, according to a recent survey of 1,100 healthcare professionals by Health Catalyst.
The remainder describe the ROI as terrible, poor or mediocre.
EHR software and revenue cycle management systems are the primary targets of these optimization efforts.
5 tips to enhance your EHR
Improving the ROI of an EHR requires an investment in critical strategies and technologies to enhance the software’s overall capabilities and performance. The following are a few steps you can take to get more value out of this core clinical platform.
1. Standardize documentation
If your paper-based documentation processes were disorganized and based on individual clinician preferences, then simply digitizing these efforts will result in limited efficiency gains. To maximize digital workflows, you should standardize documentation processes across the enterprise. Work with your clinicians to gain consensus on how they should document patient encounters and ensure they adhere to these new processes.
2. Streamline documentation
It was initially believed that EHRs would reduce the documentation requirements on physicians. Unfortunately, largely because of industry regulations, the technology has actually increased this burden. Where possible, healthcare providers should aim to reduce the data entry requirements EHRs place on their physicians and allow them to focus on care.
3. Address usability and access
Optimizing your EHR means making it a true single source for all patient data. That means ensuring all patient information — not just discrete health data, but unstructured documents and DICOM and non-DICOM medical images — are accessible from the EHR platform. Focus on making patient data easy to find and use from within the EHR, and reduce instances where physicians need to search for the data they need to make the most informed clinical decisions possible.
4. Address interoperability
Your EHR shouldn’t just be another silo within your enterprise. It should be as open as possible to ensure interoperability with other systems and healthcare stakeholders. Work with your EHR vendor and invest in complementary technologies that make it easier to exchange and share patient information with partners to facilitate collaboration and ensure continuity of care.
This can have a dramatic impact on healthcare outcomes and the overall patient experience. Also, making patient data “liquid” is a key step to reducing duplicate testing and providing safe, effective care.
5. Add decision support and data analytics
Coupling decision support tools with your EHR can ensure your clinicians have the right information at the right time to make appropriate medical decisions, ideally when they’re still in front of the patient. Data analytics can help you use the data stored in your EHR to identify patterns and trends that you can use to make population health improvements.
Get started with EHR optimization
Hyland Healthcare has several solutions that can help enhance your current EHR. These solutions include making clinical documents, DICOM studies, point-of-care images, video, and more accessible to clinicians via the EHR interface — increasing adoption of this core clinical platform by making it a more valuable tool in the delivery of care.
Ready to learn more?
* Data from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology
- Achieving A&G excellence in healthcare - 02/17/2021
- Add unstructured content to get more value out of Epic - 10/27/2020
- Managing clinical information when telehealth is the new normal - 05/18/2020
