One thing that all psychiatry practices can agree on is the need for new administrative practices that emphasize speed, efficiency and accuracy. Unfortunately, these goals may be somewhat out of reach for psychiatrists who continue to abide by the old standards of filing, note-taking and record-keeping.
If you are still keeping paper records, just think how much office space is consumed by the filing cabinets needed to store those charts. In addition, training new office staff on how to find a particular record or patient file can be complex. Ever try to locate a lost or misplaced chart? These days people expect a level of ease and accessibility to records that paper filing methods are unable to provide. Switching to electronic records can save your psychiatry practice time and precious space.
What can a psychiatrist do to enhance the efficiency of his or her practice while still delivering the highest standard of patient care? Implementing an electronic medical record (EMR) or electronic health record (EHR) system is the answer. Evaluating and selecting the best psychiatry EMR or psychiatry EHR for your practice can streamline workflow and boost productivity. Some of the benefits gained from psychiatry EMRs and EHRs are as follows.
Scheduling and tracking appointments
The relationship between a patient and clinician frequently lasts for an extended period of time. The psychiatrist may begin treating a patient for one particular issue or diagnosis, and as a result of the effectiveness of that treatment and the psychiatrist's skill, the doctor-patient connection may become a long-term trust.
Unfortunately for patients, they must often share a mental health professional's time with many other people -- especially at larger practices. In addition, long stretches of time can pass between a patient's appointments. Luckily, implementing EMRs and EHRs can make keeping track of patients far more manageable for psychiatrists and their staff members. Not only can patients instantly schedule their appointments via digital avenues, but electronic records can then link these appointments directly to treatment progress notes through an integrated system, notes http://www.HealthIT.gov.
This means that mental health professionals are able to navigate through all of their patients' appointments while also brushing up on relevant notes and data well in advance. The technology also allows for more direct communication between visits.
Using less paper
Most people would be astonished to learn how costly paper records can be for mental health practices. The cost of the paper itself really adds up over time, especially for practices with a high volume of regular patients. In addition, there is the expense of maintaining those paper records. Behavioral.net says that it costs practices $8 per record each year to track, file, audit, and manage paper charts...in addition to the huge amount of physical space required to store the paper files.
Even more important than these expenses is the amount of time psychiatrists spend managing paper charts. About 30 minutes of a psychiatrist's day is consumed by updating paper files. Although this may not seem like a large loss, a psychiatry practice employing 40 clinicians loses almost $208,000 annually due to paper recordkeeping, according to the source. Converting from paper to electronic records means significant savings in both time and money.
Increased patient flow
By converting from paper to electronic mental health records boosts efficiency and reduces the burden on a psychiatry practice's busy staff. Psychiatrists are able to spend more time working directly with patients. EHR Institute reports that clinicians using EMRs are able to take more accurate and detailed notes in less time, which translates to better patient care. In addition, it results in fewer factual errors and reduces the need to double-check medical histories, both of which can interfere with therapeutic progress.
This benefits patients as it expedites the treatment of their mental disorders. EMRs enable psychiatry practices to serve more patients, which in turn enhances the practice's revenue. The American Academy of Family Physicians reports that more accurate coding and billing can improve billable gains by $26 for each patient encounter. Additional revenue is a benefit that all behavioral health clinicians can appreciate.
If you are still keeping paper records, just think how much office space is consumed by the filing cabinets needed to store those charts. In addition, training new office staff on how to find a particular record or patient file can be complex. Ever try to locate a lost or misplaced chart? These days people expect a level of ease and accessibility to records that paper filing methods are unable to provide. Switching to electronic records can save your psychiatry practice time and precious space.
What can a psychiatrist do to enhance the efficiency of his or her practice while still delivering the highest standard of patient care? Implementing an electronic medical record (EMR) or electronic health record (EHR) system is the answer. Evaluating and selecting the best psychiatry EMR or psychiatry EHR for your practice can streamline workflow and boost productivity. Some of the benefits gained from psychiatry EMRs and EHRs are as follows.
Scheduling and tracking appointments
The relationship between a patient and clinician frequently lasts for an extended period of time. The psychiatrist may begin treating a patient for one particular issue or diagnosis, and as a result of the effectiveness of that treatment and the psychiatrist's skill, the doctor-patient connection may become a long-term trust.
Unfortunately for patients, they must often share a mental health professional's time with many other people -- especially at larger practices. In addition, long stretches of time can pass between a patient's appointments. Luckily, implementing EMRs and EHRs can make keeping track of patients far more manageable for psychiatrists and their staff members. Not only can patients instantly schedule their appointments via digital avenues, but electronic records can then link these appointments directly to treatment progress notes through an integrated system, notes http://www.HealthIT.gov.
This means that mental health professionals are able to navigate through all of their patients' appointments while also brushing up on relevant notes and data well in advance. The technology also allows for more direct communication between visits.
Using less paper
Most people would be astonished to learn how costly paper records can be for mental health practices. The cost of the paper itself really adds up over time, especially for practices with a high volume of regular patients. In addition, there is the expense of maintaining those paper records. Behavioral.net says that it costs practices $8 per record each year to track, file, audit, and manage paper charts...in addition to the huge amount of physical space required to store the paper files.
Even more important than these expenses is the amount of time psychiatrists spend managing paper charts. About 30 minutes of a psychiatrist's day is consumed by updating paper files. Although this may not seem like a large loss, a psychiatry practice employing 40 clinicians loses almost $208,000 annually due to paper recordkeeping, according to the source. Converting from paper to electronic records means significant savings in both time and money.
Increased patient flow
By converting from paper to electronic mental health records boosts efficiency and reduces the burden on a psychiatry practice's busy staff. Psychiatrists are able to spend more time working directly with patients. EHR Institute reports that clinicians using EMRs are able to take more accurate and detailed notes in less time, which translates to better patient care. In addition, it results in fewer factual errors and reduces the need to double-check medical histories, both of which can interfere with therapeutic progress.
This benefits patients as it expedites the treatment of their mental disorders. EMRs enable psychiatry practices to serve more patients, which in turn enhances the practice's revenue. The American Academy of Family Physicians reports that more accurate coding and billing can improve billable gains by $26 for each patient encounter. Additional revenue is a benefit that all behavioral health clinicians can appreciate.
About the Author:
ICANotes has been making psychiatry practices more efficient for more than 14 years. Learn how you can create narrative mental health progress notes in two minutes with no typing or dictating. Take a free trial of our psychiatry EHR today.
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