If you’re wondering whether you’re the only medical provider dissatisfied with your current EHR software platform, don’t despair as most other clinicians probably feel the exact same way.
Preface
EMR systems were intended to eliminate unnecessary or redundant steps required during routine clinical documentation workflow while helping connect the various stakeholders of healthcare community such as labs, pharmacies, hospitals and most importantly patients with their doctors. It is evident however looking at the past few years that there has been a significant increase in the number of EMR software vendors since the introduction of Meaningful Use or it is more commonly referred to now as MIPS and MACRA, but the dissatisfaction among providers and other clinical users with their respective Electronic Medical Records software provider has grown at the same rate. In this blog, we are going to highlight the most common issues and possible solutions to address them.
Issues
Speed and reliability
This is the most important concern for any software user, but in the world of healthcare technology, the speed and transition times between screens of the EMR Software system is perhaps the most significant and most pressing issues among clinical users. Practices with their EHR software platform installed on an in-house server mostly complain of the lack of stability and accessibility of the Electronic Medical Records software along with concerns about HIPAA, backups, and updates. While practices using Cloud-based EMR software systems experience unstable connectivity, inconsistent and lackluster customer support, device incompatibility, and above all slow loading times.
Tips
For an EHR System installed on an in-house server, have a skilled IT person with experience of working in the healthcare sector, set up the hardware according to the EHR Software requirements, along with a compatibility check of the devices used in the practices (Mac, Windows, iPads etc.). If you’re using a Cloud-based Electronic Medical Records software, ask the EMR software company where their data centers may be located and how many there may be. Ask your internet service provider if there may be a bandwidth issue slowing down your EMR system. Ask your EHR software company for a happy customer to find out if they may be experiencing the same issue. Lastly, for any customer service issues always get the name of the customer support person and log a written complaint if the service quality and follow-up lacks attention to detail.
Clinical Content and Design
The design of an EMR may be nice to look at, but this may be meaningless if it does not have relevant clinical content and layout to suit your workflow. Most clinicians may want their EHR software to look nice and flashy, but if the EHR clinical design or content does not coincide with their workflow it slows them down and may affect their overall performance.
Tips
When selecting an EMR system or tweaking your existing one, providers must focus on the extent of clinical content within an EHR software program rather than the mere design. If the clinical content and method of documentation compliment how they work, the transition becomes simpler. A clinical content repository based on a specialty is vital, but so is the option of customizing it.
