To err is human, the saying goes, and no matter how careful your employees are at your medical organization, you can count on mistakes arising from time to time. The trick is in setting up procedures and protocols to make preventable mistakes as few as possible.
Consider that an overworked staff trying to process too much information in a limited amount of time can grow frustrated, which can lead to even more mistakes.
Getting a patient’s name wrong could make it harder to find the person in your system. Transposing numbers and letters, typing in the wrong word while being distracted or even accidentally hitting a key on the keyboard without noticing are examples of mistakes anyone can make, whether in a hurry or not.
If your medical practice is still relying on an old-fashioned paper based system for recording patient information, you can easily make a case for using specialized software designed to streamline your operations and cut down on errors. What many managers and owners of medical practices are coming to see is that using electronic health record or EHR software can help you make fewer data entry mistakes, which is a worthy goal you’ll want to pursue yourself.
Faster Processing
Medical organizations that let stacks of information pile up can definitely pick up the pace when they deploy an EHR. Your staff can type in pertinent patient information during registration at the front desk.
When a nurse or physician makes a note, it will go directly into the patient’s record, which is a more efficient use of time. What’s more, you are spared the problem of an employee trying to make sense of what was written down on paper and unable to reach the doctor or nurse to clarify it until the next day.
To further minimize data entry errors, you can add a patient portal to your EHR, which lets patients type in their own information before their first consultation. They can do it in your waiting room with one of your computers, or input their information from the privacy of home after logging into the portal.
Templates Guide the Action
One of the more useful features of an EHR is a template. When you implement a template, your employees will be guided to enter information in the appropriate field.
You won’t run the risk of omitting a vital detail, and the record won’t be considered finished until the staff member fills in every required data field.
Voice Recognition to the Rescue
Another way you can cut down on mistakes that result from typing errors is to enable voice recognition in your EHR.
As the person speaks, the system automatically and in real-time processes the sounds into text in the record. You can see immediately if a word is incorrect and then make a quick adjustment, further saving time.
If you’ve been on the fence about implementing an EHR at your facility, the fact that you can dramatically cut down on easily preventable data entry mistakes could be enough to help you make a business case to go forward with installing and using the software now.
Key Takeaway
- Human error is unavoidable, but you can install software at your medical practice that will cut down on data entry mistakes.
- Electronic health record software speeds up the data entry process, with no more stacks of paper piling up for your staff to plow through.
- With templates in your EHR, your staff will be guided along in what information to include, which can significantly reduce errors.
- Activate voice recognition with your EHR to make it even easier for your team to enter data on each patient.
