Monday, August 4, 2008
IT Adoptions in Healthcare
The healthcare sector is undergoing a major change as organizations make IT adoptions to improve the services they provide and reduce medical errors. Healthcare providers working at clinics and hospitals are adopting health information systems to manage patients records and office administration using the the benefits of computerization.
If you are a healthcare provider and still using papers to manage health records, then it is advised to take benefts of computerization to use clinical softwares e.g. Practice Management, Electronic Medical Record (EMR) or Electronic Health Record (EHR) solution. Through computerization, you can take these benefits:
Improved Accuracy
By using clinical software rather than hand-writing notes and charting, your practice will immediately benefit from improved legibility, easier appointment scheduling and more accurate insurance billing. Improved accuracy in record keeping and streamlined flows and processes in your practice are an additional benefit. All of which leads to an improved cash flow. Through better documentation and greater visibility of outstanding receivables, your collections will improve dramatically. In addition, the number of claims errors, which result in nonpayment or severely delayed reimbursement because of insufficient documentation or incorrect coding, will be reduced.
Better Patient Safety
Computerize systems offer several ways to improve patient safety and satisfaction. Lost charts are eliminated, plus nurses and administrators have instant access to patient charts, allowing them to answer questions quickly and efficiently. Having instant access to charts also makes it easier to provide important patient education material. By entering patient prescription information into computerized system, it is much easier to identify drug interactions, dosage information, patient instructions, formularies and more.
Better Resource Allocation
Many practices begin to re-evaluate their business processes when they implement clinical software. The patient’s entire experience is often improved, both in and out of the exam room. Practices can improve the way they schedule patient visits, make referrals and handle episodic illnesses. A physician on call, for example, may speak with a patient, schedule an appointment with a colleague, send referral information and schedule a reminder for follow-up appointments, all before hanging up. This type of convenience and flexibility gives physician practices a strategic advantage over others while greatly improving their patient’s experience. Practices have found that they need much less administrative staffing and can reallocate those expenditures into hiring additional nurses or other clinicians. This allows the patients themselves to have a better experience and spend more time with a service provider. It also allows your practice to see more patients in a timely manner, thus increasing revenues.
Cost Savings
There are several variables that lead to a positive return on investment with regard to clinical software. To most accurately measure cost savings, practitioners should first determine what their expenditures are before implementation. Evaluate costs for supplies, storage space, time spent filing and time spent looking for lost charts, to name a few. By itself, the costs of maintaining storage space for charts can be significant.
Many practices have found they have eliminated transcription costs entirely. Related miscellaneous expenses that can also be eliminated include courier fees and copying. Other expenses, which may be less obvious but are equally important, include the potential to increase revenues as a result of more accurate coding, improved clinical productivity and more complete documentation.
If you are a healthcare provider and still using papers to manage health records, then it is advised to take benefts of computerization to use clinical softwares e.g. Practice Management, Electronic Medical Record (EMR) or Electronic Health Record (EHR) solution. Through computerization, you can take these benefits:
Improved Accuracy
By using clinical software rather than hand-writing notes and charting, your practice will immediately benefit from improved legibility, easier appointment scheduling and more accurate insurance billing. Improved accuracy in record keeping and streamlined flows and processes in your practice are an additional benefit. All of which leads to an improved cash flow. Through better documentation and greater visibility of outstanding receivables, your collections will improve dramatically. In addition, the number of claims errors, which result in nonpayment or severely delayed reimbursement because of insufficient documentation or incorrect coding, will be reduced.
Better Patient Safety
Computerize systems offer several ways to improve patient safety and satisfaction. Lost charts are eliminated, plus nurses and administrators have instant access to patient charts, allowing them to answer questions quickly and efficiently. Having instant access to charts also makes it easier to provide important patient education material. By entering patient prescription information into computerized system, it is much easier to identify drug interactions, dosage information, patient instructions, formularies and more.
Better Resource Allocation
Many practices begin to re-evaluate their business processes when they implement clinical software. The patient’s entire experience is often improved, both in and out of the exam room. Practices can improve the way they schedule patient visits, make referrals and handle episodic illnesses. A physician on call, for example, may speak with a patient, schedule an appointment with a colleague, send referral information and schedule a reminder for follow-up appointments, all before hanging up. This type of convenience and flexibility gives physician practices a strategic advantage over others while greatly improving their patient’s experience. Practices have found that they need much less administrative staffing and can reallocate those expenditures into hiring additional nurses or other clinicians. This allows the patients themselves to have a better experience and spend more time with a service provider. It also allows your practice to see more patients in a timely manner, thus increasing revenues.
Cost Savings
There are several variables that lead to a positive return on investment with regard to clinical software. To most accurately measure cost savings, practitioners should first determine what their expenditures are before implementation. Evaluate costs for supplies, storage space, time spent filing and time spent looking for lost charts, to name a few. By itself, the costs of maintaining storage space for charts can be significant.
Many practices have found they have eliminated transcription costs entirely. Related miscellaneous expenses that can also be eliminated include courier fees and copying. Other expenses, which may be less obvious but are equally important, include the potential to increase revenues as a result of more accurate coding, improved clinical productivity and more complete documentation.
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