HEALTHCARE IT CONSULTING: CONFIGURATION & OPTIMIZATION

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Importance of EHR Configuration

EHR systems are crucial to improve the health and satisfaction of the people you serve, doing so as efficiently as possible. Studies have shown how patients can have better outcomes when the power of EHR is properly leveraged and this can also reduce potentially dangerous errors. So, the capabilities of EHR applications are clear. 

Focusing on one word from the paragraph above—efficiently—highlights the importance of EHR configuration. If the software isn’t efficiently and appropriately configured for use, then adoption rates won’t be as high. When adoption rates aren’t high, then your healthcare organization won’t reap the benefits of your software or receive the return on investment that you should. 

In October 2015, Neurology Clinical Practice delved into this issue. Although “Configuring electronic health records to meet the needs of neurologists” focuses on one medical specialty, conclusions can be broadly applied. 

FIrst, when an EHR system isn’t well configured, physician satisfaction is low. Negatives include “poor usability, time-consuming data entry, interference with face-to-face patient care, inefficient and less fulfilling work content, inability to exchange health information, and degradation of clinical documentation.”

The journal notes that none of these were due to technical capabilities of the EHR system. It was because the application was not configured to dovetail with their needs. When a department creates a clear vision of what they need and articulates goals for the system, everything changes. 

The journal notes how “The importance of fit between a practice and its EHR cannot be emphasized enough.” One size, they continue, does not fit all. One system may have their EHR configured in a highly satisfying way. That same system, placed in another provider’s venue, may not suit their needs at all. 

Here’s their conclusion: “given enough time and effort, it is truly possible to configure an EHR to do exactly what you want to do. In that light, the EHR is just a tool. Figuring out exactly what you want it to do has always been and will always be the more difficult task.”

The professionals in our network are highly skilled in working alongside your healthcare organization to solidify what you want and need and then configuring the EHR system in precisely those ways. Our boutique-style agency can provide experts of unsurpassed knowledge in:

• Epic configuration
• Oracle Cerner configuration
• Allscripts/Altera configuration 
• MEDITECH configuration 
• NextGen configuration

Importance of EHR Optimization 

When your EHR application is optimized, your doctors, nurses, insurance specialists, and other team members will be freed up to spend more time and attention on quality patient care. That’s because they’ll spend less time on routine tasks, including paperwork. An optimized EHR application, then, is a true productivity enhancer that benefits patients and medical professionals alike.

As the configuration example demonstrates, a well optimized system facilitates higher adoption rates. When a well optimized EHR application is highly adopted and contains streamlined workflows, then your healthcare organization will benefit from efficient, cost effective usage and more quickly realize your return on investment. 

HealthTECH Resources provides skilled, experienced professionals for:

• Epic optimization
• Cerner optimization
• Allscripts optimization
• MEDITECH optimization
• NextGen optimization 

During the optimization process of a new EHR software system, your organization can make key decisions that will maximize its power. For example, you can review data and make decisions about what to clean and migrate, what to archive, and so forth. You can take an objective look at your current analytics and reporting, and then create a vision for more meaningful information going forward. You can craft your technology to go beyond simply meeting compliance needs. You can optimize your EHR software in ways that allow you to stay ahead of constantly evolving compliance changes. 

We can help. Whether you need Epic optimization professionals, Cerner optimization professionals, or ones for another EHR brand, we can supply the experts you need. As just one example, when you augment your IT staff with professionals from our deep and wide network, they are highly skilled at right pacing the software’s implementation and optimization. 

When EHR systems are too quickly implemented, vital workflows can be rushed through—with results like those described in the neurology department. Some processes might be overlooked entirely. The result can be clunky, an application that forces physicians and other users to waste time as they navigate through repetitive screens or through less targeted workflows. The more time that’s spent on routine tasks, the less time is available for patient care. Money is wasted. Users get frustrated.

When implementations go too slowly, perhaps because of pitfalls that could have been prevented, the process becomes more costly and less efficient. Right-pacing an implementation and optimization process is one of the ways that our experts can keep your project on time and on budget. This is one way among many that they help you to reach your targeted return on investment.

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