Using EHR Implementation to Solve Patient Scheduling Issues

EMR & Medical Billing Best Practices Series: #3 Last week's blog in the Best Practices Series covered the need for organization in your medical practice. This week, we'll look at how a strong EHR implementation removes common issues from one of the most difficult organizational aspects of a medical office: Patient scheduling. Make Use of Patient Portals A best practice for patient scheduling in any medical office is that your office staff doesn't have to do all the work. It seems counter-intuitive to think patients would be happy to take on some of the burden, but if it means more efficient appointments, most are willing to do so. Include a web portal in your EHR implementation to provide patients the ability to schedule their own appointments through regulated online systems and upload necessary demographic or insurance information ahead of time. Top Tip: When implementing a web portal, keep your target patient base in mind. Always provide another option for communication, especially if you have a large base of elderly patients who are less comfortable with accessing Internet applications and sharing information virtually. Use Past Data for Planning A benefit of the electronic health record is that you get easy access to data about past appointments. If you plan your EHR implementation accordingly, you'll be able to pull statistics about appointment times, what types of complaints are most prevalent during various times of the year, and what the rate of return appointme...
Source: EMR EHR Blog for Physicians - Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Source Type: blogs