There are several reasons to consider changing or upgrading to your healthcare facility’s EHR system. With technology continuing to advance and ever-changing healthcare rules and regulations, a change could be on the horizon for your organization. But how do you determine when to make the leap. In this article, we’ll talk about seven signs that it’s time to consider replacing or upgrading your EMR system.
Sign #1: Your Current System is Inefficient
If you notice that your productivity lags and end users become frustrated by the machinations they must perform to enter and find data, then this is a sign that your EMR system may have outlasted its usefulness. Today’s systems enhance productivity with intuitive processes that dovetail with your healthcare organization’s unique workflows to save you time.
Sign #2 Incompatibility Issues Exist
As time goes by, your organization may encounter an increasing number of incompatibilities, especially if the vendor hasn’t provided any application updates in a while. This is, in fact, a common complaint that can serve as a red flag, a warning sign that your EMR system is losing its value.
Sign #3 Vendor Support Lags or is Lacking
When you have problems with your EMR software, it’s natural to reach out for support. When the vendor doesn’t respond or the response time drags, this can be a sign that you need a change. Depending upon the situation, it may help to reach out to EMR/EHR consulting companies like HealthTECH Resource to source experienced professionals who can offer the support you need.
Sign #4 System Doesn’t Grow With You
As your medical organization expands, you need your technology to grow with you in flexible ways. When that doesn’t happen, the reality is that you may have outgrown your EMR software. This can happen as you open new facilities, add new services and specialties, incorporate more service providers, and so forth. When you can no longer customize your application to accommodate your needs, this is another sign that you should look into a new software.
Sign #5 Mobile Options Are Limited
Busy medical professionals are always on the go, and this includes when they need to access vital patient data. If your EMR system doesn’t allow for broad mobile usage, then it’s costing you both time and money in terms of stagnated productivity and reduced efficiency.
Sign #6 You Can’t Benefit From Incentive Payments
If your application isn’t a true EHR system according to definitions provided by the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), then your organization can’t qualify for Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments. So, you’re literally leaving money on the table.
Sign #7 You’re Just Not Happy With It
This can be true because of a combination of factors mentioned or for a reason we’ve haven’t discussed. Regardless of the reasons why, if the system no longer satisfies you, it’s time to collaborate with EMR consultants to find a robust yet flexible system that will efficiently provide what your healthcare organization needs.
Choosing a New EHR System
EMR/EHR consulting companies like HealthTECH Resources can help you find the consultants you need to select the right software to meet the needs of today and tomorrow. These consultants will have a broad knowledge of today’s best systems, such as these:
These EMR consultants will help you to analyze your requirements and then recommend which EHR software and its modules will mesh with what you need. Issues considered will include the types and amount of data stored, the services you perform, the processes and workflows used by each type of end user, payer group contracts, and more. Large hospital systems will have different needs than specialty care clinics, and physician groups will need different features than pharmacies, emergency care facilities, and assisted living centers. What do you need in telehealth technologies? Patient portals?
Also consider the reasons why you’ve become dissatisfied with your current EMR and include the new EHR systems on your short list that will address these issues with ease and expand your capacity for providing world-class health care services.
Gone are the days when you needed one software for revenue cycle management and another for human resources, one for analytics and another for patient management. Today’s robust EHR systems allow you to integrate all of your functionalities into umbrella systems that can be customized through module selection, configuration choices, and more.
Once you’ve narrowed your software choices and then picked the best one for your unique circumstances, you may decide to collaborate with EHR consultants who have in-depth knowledge of your specific application, such as Epic or Cerner.
HealthTECH Resources can help your healthcare organization to strategically augment your EHR implementation team. We’re the fastest and most knowledgeable of today’s EHR consulting companies with a deep, wide, and broad network of unsurpassed professionals. Our experts will happily help you to determine where staffing gaps exist within your IT team and time constraints in your bandwidth.
EHR consultants provided will specialize in your application’s implementation, integration, and optimization; data cleaning, archiving, transforming, and migrating; training and process documentation; go-live cutovers; post-live support; and more. There are also EMR consultants that specialize in overall project management, ensuring that each team member is appropriately meeting deadlines and goals.
HealthTECH Resource: Outstanding EHR Consulting Company
You can count on our boutique-style agency to strategically supplement your EHR implementation team, providing you with the quality professionals you need with exactly the right areas of expertise for a smooth project implementation. HealthTECH Resources has more than 20 years of experience in the industry and we have just one niche: supplying healthcare organizations like yours with EMR/EHR/healthcare IT technology professionals as consultants, contract-to-hire professionals, or permanent placements.
To get started, just contact us online or call (602) 903-7961. We respond quickly, even to stringent requests, often getting professionals on-site within 48 hours.
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.