Electronic health record (EHR) systems come with plenty of benefits for the healthcare organization that’s using this technology. EHR applications allow them to share and receive crucial information across healthcare organizations, which facilitates their ability to provide safe, high-quality, well-coordinated patient care.
EHR systems allow medical professionals to make more effective diagnoses, reducing errors. Communication is enhanced; coding and billing are streamlined; and comprehensive documentation is created. All of this is accomplished in convenient ways with improved security. So, in short, EHR systems allow healthcare organizations to enhance patient care while streamlining financial functions to meet business goals.
How, though, do you know which EHR vendor is right for your needs? Here’s guidance with a focus on five of the most in-demand systems today.
Epic EHR System
In general, Epic EHR is used by large hospitals and other healthcare systems in the United States. More specifically, it’s used in community hospitals, children’s healthcare organizations, academic medical centers, hospice facilities, rehab centers, dental clinics, mental health facilities, retail clinics, and more. More than 250 million patients have medical records in Epic with many of them using MyChart to access their medical information.
Epic is a robust EHR system with modules in these areas:
- Clinical
- Patient access
- Revenue cycle
- Claims
- Analytics
- Warehousing
- Mobile and third party
- Specialties and ancillaries
Here are the Epic modules that we support—and here is information about three new or upcoming modules: Cheers, Garden, and Best Care for My Patient.
Cerner EHR System
The Oracle Cerner EHR system is also a robust, in-demand system. Clients are typically specialty medical practices, long-term care facilities, urgent care centers, laboratories, group clinics, and retail pharmacies as well as hospitals. More than half (55%) of acute healthcare facilities in our country use either Cerner or Epic for their EHR solution.
The reasons organizations choose Cerner include its streamlined workflow capabilities; efficient, user-friendly dashboard; and HIPAA compliance features. Medical professionals can seamlessly find key information, and patient records can be securely and conveniently found while on the go by using mobile devices. To continue to ensure this ease of use, Cerner employs hundreds of clinicians to collaborate on design and usage.
Here are the Cerner modules we support.
Allscripts EHR System
Allscripts/Altera EHR is used by hospitals, physician offices, and other healthcare facilities, including ambulatory clinics, emergency rooms, lab systems, surgical centers, and so forth. The platform is specifically designed for small to midsize healthcare organizations. The goal of Allscripts is to enhance patient care while also streamlining healthcare operations and boosting revenue.
Benefits of this system include how, despite its robustness, users can typically become proficient in its usage in a fairly short time. The software also contains several divisions that allow it to be used for a range of medical practice sizes.
Here are Allscripts modules that we support.
MEDITECH EHR System
MEDITECH EHR is used by medical professionals in a wide range of hospital sizes. In 2022, it was named Best in Klas in three key areas: acute care EMR: community hospital; patient accounting and patient management: community hospital; and home health EHR.
MEDITECH provides ambulatory care applications for large physician practices, and users note how they appreciate its intuitive design and ease of customization. Focus areas of MEDITECH include fiscal responsibility; interoperability; nurse and specialty care; patient experience; physician efficiency; population health; and quality outcomes.
These are the MEDITECH modules we support in these areas of use: financial, administrative, clinical, continuing care, and operational/decision support.
NextGen EHR System
NextGen EHR is a comprehensive solution that’s designed for specialty medical practices and ambulatory care facilities of all sizes. The application combines clinical and financial workflows and is scalable to size. With 100,000 providers and one million patients on the system, users appreciate how the EHR application allows them to coordinate patient care while managing population health requirements, the merit-based incentive payment system (MIPS), and more.
These are the NextGen modules we support.
EHR Implementation, Optimization and More
To get the most out of any other of these systems, it’s crucial to choose the right vendor and then proceed with EHR implementation and optimization.
Although many healthcare organizations recognize that they need to implement and optimize an EHR system, there’s a key reason why some aren’t moving forward: lack of specialized IT talent. In September 2021, Gartner, Inc. noted that a talent shortage is the most significant barrier (64%) to implementation. By comparing survey results of just a year ago, when 4% of IT executives gave that answer, it’s clear how much a lack of EHR consulting talent is limiting implementation.
Choosing HealthTECH Resources as your EMR/EHR consulting company can solve the problem. We have a deep, wide network of IT professionals who are available as consultants, contract to hire professionals, and permanent placements. HealthTECH can match you with the best experts for your needs and often have them on your site within 48 hours.
Besides EHR implementation, integration, and optimization professionals, experts in our network can also help with:
- Selecting the right EHR vendor
- Implementation, configuration, integration, optimization, and upgrades
- Data migration
- Training, adoption, and process documentation
- Overall project management and advisory services
- Go-live and post go-live support
- Legacy support
For the most successful project possible, it’s important to have the right EMR consulting professionals. This involves conducting an analysis of your in-house IT team; their specialties; bandwidth; and any other relevant factors. The goal is to look for any gaps in skills sets or bandwidth—and then to optimally fill in those gaps. Even healthcare organizations that don’t have skills gaps in other IT functions often find them with an EHR implementation project.
Our expert leadership can help you with the analysis if that’s your preference.
Choose HealthTECH Resources as Your EHR Consulting Company
To right-size your EHR team with professionals of unsurpassed quality, please contact us online or call (602) 903-7961. Our boutique-style agency has been providing healthcare IT staff augmentation services for more than 20 years now, and we’re the fastest, most knowledgeable, and reliable staff supplementation firm in the industry.
PRESIDENT/CEO AT HEALTHTECH RESOURCES
Larry has specialized in building strategic healthcare relationships for over 25 years, helping the nation’s top payors and providers solve some of their most pressing business challenges through an intelligent mix of staffing services, training, and consulting.