7 Ways To Improve Usability Of Your Ehr Software

By Author: Kaiden Hale
Total Articles: 3
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Most medical practices have implemented an EHR software. However, not everyone is using their EHR software to their maximum benefit. In this article, we’ll talk about some of the ways how you can improve usability of your EHR software like AdvancedMD EHR.

Over the past years, we’ve looked at various examples where practices are unable to maximize their use of an EHR software. It’s one thing to implement the right EHR software, it’s another to sustain long-term growth. Whether you’ve implemented a generic EHR or a specialty-specific one, here are seven ways you can improve the usability of your EHR software.

Keep Patient Notes Simple
Use Pre-Built Templates
Train Your Staff
Stay Up-to-Date With Your EHR Vendor
Make Use of Advanced Features
Work as a Team
Stay Patient

Keep Patient Notes Simple
According to a recent study, patient notes have increased more than double in length since 2009 with an average of 700 more words. Even the most capable of EHR software can only assist with your clinical ...
... workflows up to a degree. By keeping your patient notes simple and minimal, you can put emphasis on the patient’s problem without including any additional information.

Practitioners often face problems in reducing information overload. One of the easiest ways to simplify notes is by discarding any information that isn’t required or can be considered irrelevant. This helps simplify your documentation and reduce the strain of writing complicated patient notes.
Use Pre-Built Templates
EMR software like AdvancedMD EMR offer various pre-built templates to help simplify your note-taking process. With specialty-specific templates, you can reduce the number of repetitive tasks, and the chances of physician burnout.

Train Your Staff
Having the right tools and knowing how to use them proficiently are two very different things. For instance, you can implement the best EMR software in the market, but without knowing how all the cool features work, you’d be at a dead-end. That’s why it’s important to train your physicians and medical staff on the EHR platform you have implemented.

Even EHR software like AdvancedMD that offer easy navigation and a user-friendly design, require some sort of training beforehand.
In addition, you might also have to train your staff regularly if your EHR vendor offers frequent updates. Here are some of the best practices, you can follow these best practices:

Identify specific computer skills and provide essential training
Designate a few tech-savvy people to act as ‘Superusers’. Superusers are people other staff can go to for any advice or problem they may be facing.

Conduct feedback sessions to identify where employees are lacking.
Make the most of offline resources offered by your vendor

Stay Up-to-Date With Your EHR Vendor
EHR vendors often need to roll-out updates to cater to any legal changes. For instance, the most recent E&M coding changes would require EHR vendors to re-adjust their out-patient coding in order to fit their requirements. As a practitioner, you need to stay up-to-date with any changes that your EHR vendor might be rolling out.
Similarly, you should also keep an eye open when they’re not rolling out an update when they should be. For instance, if your EHR vendor is not rolling out an update in January 2021 to cater to the E&M coding changes, chances are they won’t be offering optimal support for the changes.

Make Use of Advanced Features
Most EHR vendors offer different types of advanced features for your medical practice. While some may focus on voice-recognition and AI, others might be focused on creating customizable healthcare plans. As a physician, it’s important for you to understand and make use of the advanced features that your EHR vendor offer.

One of the most famous EHR vendors, AdvancedMD EHR, offers services like:

CBO Master File
eRemittance
Telemedicine
Smart Dashboard
Patient Kiosk
ClearingHouse

Although the list could go on and on, these are some of the top features offered by AdvancedMD EMR.

Work as a Team
To maximize the usability of your EHR software, you can also delegate tasks to your nurses and other medical staff. For instance, you can delegate tasks like data entry to your nurses, rather than doing it all by yourself. However, in order to do that, you would also need to provide training to your nurses and other medical staff.

Stay Patient
All good things come to those who wait. When implementing an EHR software, it’s important to understand that it’ll take time for your staff to get used to the new digital infrastructure. No matter how capable an EHR software might be, it won’t turn your practice around overnight. Sure it takes time to get used to all the features and services that an effective EHR software has to offer but the outcome of long-term growth is definitely worth the wait.
Even if you might feel that all the training and updates are tiresome and time-consuming, they will eventually help you sustain long-term growth.

Conclusion – Make the Most Out of Your EHR
Implementing an effective EHR software like AdvancedMD EHR Software and making the most of their features are two different stories. In order to maximize your EHR software usability, follow these seven easy steps.

Working as a marketing consultant in the healthcare industry. Occasionally write and consult for industry related projects