Since the emergence of the COVID pandemic in 2020, Electronic Medical Records (EMR) software has become imperative to the success of Urgent Care healthcare practices. To deal with the massive numbers of patients flooding healthcare centers, healthcare providers have utilized Electronic Health Records (EHR) software with best-in-class billing processes, appointment scheduling, and data management. In the US alone, the market size growth for Urgent Care Centres increased by 4.6 % in 2022 and is worth over $40 billion. Hospital emergency rooms have become incredibly busy and are usually overburdened. This rapid growth has made the implementation of suitable Urgent Care Electronic Medical Records (EMR) software imperative to a practice’s success. In a field where the most minute details can easily be affected by small mistakes, Urgent Care software both speeds up the diagnostic process and eliminates most human errors at the same time.
What is Urgent Care?
Urgent Care Practice Management (PM) software specializes in urgent medical conditions – conditions that are not considered emergencies but still require care within 24 hours. Since these facilities deal with massive volumes of patients in very short periods of time, they need powerful Electronic Health Records (EHR) software that can keep up. The software simplifies workflow and makes the billing process, appointment scheduling and management of data incredibly efficient. Urgent care examples include broken bones, eye redness and breathing difficulties, whereas emergencies would include heart attacks, seizures, and severe bleeding.
5 Key Features of an Urgent Care EHR Software Solution
- Easy-to-use navigation and UI
- Interfacing/interoperability
- Training and technical support
- Patient-focused functionality
- Dedicated focus
- Partnership
- Powerful reporting
Other Features to look for in Urgent Care EMR Solutions
The best Urgent Care software will primarily include these top features:
- Medical Equipment Interface: These include specific monitors for radiology and x-ray machines. The top Urgent Care EHR software will more efficiently integrate with medical equipment.
- E&M Billing– An EMR software designed for an urgent care clinic should support medical billing.
- This includes billing to different payers, employers for services (physicals, drug screening, etc), worker’s compensation claims, group health insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, and self-pay.
- Bubble Sheet Intake Forms– These will quickly move patient check-ins through forms that resemble standardized tests. An image is taken of these forms that are automatically retained on EHR software that has bubble sheet support capabilities.
- e-Prescription– Urgent Care EMR software should be able to send prescriptions directly to pharmacies through an electronic interface. This cuts administrative and stationery costs as well as reduces the risk of error related to hand-written prescriptions.
- Real-Time Dashboard– Top urgent care EHR software should feature a real-time dashboard that will help physicians clearly view patient charts, profiles, billing processes, scheduling, etc. all in one place. The dashboard also saves the time that is taken in opening multiple tabs, improving practice efficiency.
Top Urgent Care Electronic Medical Records (EMR) Software
- Nextgen – Fully customizable features which include data sharing/interoperability and analytics.
- Experity – Cloud-based so it can be accessed on any device and involves a fully integrated practice management (PM) solution.
- Praxis – Involves an incredibly smart billing system and has an efficient User Interface.
- AdvancedMD – Can create custom medical plans for specific conditions and patient health can be tracked using automated flow sheets.
- Sevocity – Affordably priced and offers integration with many different billing platforms.
These are widely regarded as some of the most well-rounded EHR software solutions. They are cloud-based Electronic Medical Records (EMR) software and Practice Management (PM) software solutions for Urgent Care specialties. Healthcare Practices should ideally pick Urgent Care Electronic Health Records (EHR) software that is best suited to their specific needs.
