It's clear that electronic health records (EHR) help enhance patient care. However, they do so much more! Our informative whitepaper, "Increasing Revenue and Efficiency" highlights the many benefits that EHR provide medical staff and practices.

Most behavioral health providers have some degree of familiarity with capturing and reporting clinical quality measures as CARF, COA, and the Joint Commission have required this data as part of the accreditation process. Clinical quality measures are the metrics used to measure the efficacy, efficiency, and safety of the services that patients receive from providers. As part of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), behavioral providers are required to report a certain number of clinical quality measures in order to qualify for incentive payments. While providers can reports these metrics by using the attestation process through 2013, in 2014 healthcare professional will need to provide their clinical quality measures electronic through the use of electronic health records (EHR).

One of the specialty areas that have been slow to adopt electronic health records (EHR) is the addictions field. Part of the reason is that some addictions professionals, such as Licensed Clinical Social Workers and psychologists, are not eligible for incentive payments from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The good news is that there is some movement in correcting this oversight. Additionally, addiction centers that employ physicians and licensed nurse practitioners can receive the CMS incentive payments as long as their caseloads include at least 30 percent Medicaid patients. By participating in the CMS EHR incentive payment programs, a substantial part of the cost of entry of the EHR software can be offset.

According to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2011, obstetrics and gynecology practices are one of the ten medical specialties at risk for malpractice suits. The primary way that these practices can defend themselves in these suits is having detailed and well-organized documentation of all the services provided to their patients. Given the complexity of ob/gyn services, documentation in paper charts is likely to be lost or misfiled, which can be problematic in the event of a malpractice suit. With electronic medical records (EHR), all critical patient information is entered into a patient’s chart electronically, which minimalizes the risk of missing patient data in the event of a legal chart review.

While the rate of adoption of electronic medical records (EHR) among healthcare providers is on the rise due to the EHR incentive payments offered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), general practitioners and family practice offices lead in the adoption of health information technology. Based upon the results of a recent survey, experts expect that 80 percent of general and family practices in the United States will have implemented EHR, which is a much higher rate of adoption than that of specialty practices. The primary reason that these general practice are ahead of other areas of medical practice is that until a few years ago, EHR software was not specialized, so it tended to be onerous for specialty practices to customize EHR software.

As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) received a mandate to establish an incentive program for healthcare professionals and hospitals for the adopting, implementing, and demonstrating meaningful use of electronic health records (EHR). The reason for this program is to leverage the efficiency that health information technology brings to the coordination of medical treatment in order to reduce both costs and medical errors. The purpose of the incentive payments is to defray the costs of implementing EHR.

Healthcare organizations that provide mental health services lag other specialty areas in the adoption of electronic health records (EHR). In 2006, less than 8 percent of the community mental health centers have adopted EHR. While more mental have providers have adopted EHR today, the percentage of professionals using this technology remains relatively low due to concerns about cost and difficulty in find EHR software that is relevant to mental health practices. Fortunately, with mental health EHR software now being offered on a subscription basis, both of these concerns have been resolved.

Here is a sneak peek into our whitepaper, "The Beginner's Guide to EHR Meaningful Use."

Electronic health records (EHR's) continue to gain acceptance among both medical providers and para-professionals, thanks to the many benefits that medical records software delivers to both service providers and patients. One of the latest groups to adopt the widespread use of electronic health records is behavioral health professionals; according to the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, "Forty-six states...are either incorporating or planning to incorporate electronic health records" in both their psychiatric hospitals and community mental health services.

OB GYN EMR software allows medical practices to process patient records more efficiently and without the need to purchase outside storage space when the office runs out of room. Not all electronic medical records software is created equal, and to find an appropriate solution check that the EMR software solution meets basic criteria. While these requirements are not the only factors that should be taken into consideration, they are the fundamentals that can help avoid purchasing the wrong software and can help in selecting an appropriate medical software company.