Our Clinic Has Gone EHR

If you’ve been in our office recently you have noticed the doctors carrying IPads with them.  That’s because our clinic has made the change over to what is called Electronic Health Records (EHR).  Very simply, we are not writing down our daily office notes on paper any longer, we are putting it on a digital format via the IPad. This is the direction our healthcare system is going and I would guess that more than 75% of all health care providers have already made the switch.  Our clinic purposefully held back knowing that the early systems had more than a few “bugs'' and we didn’t want to experience any more frustrations than needed.  We are glad we did!  Those early systems definitely did have more than a few bugs!  I am happy to say that after 4 months of using our new system we are very pleased and happy with its performance and easy to use format. 

Here are some of the benefits of an Electronic Health Record system.   

• Records are legible!  I admit, as I get older, my handwriting gets worse!  No one is going to say they can't read my records now!  It's easier for another doctor, insurance company, or any reviewer to read my notes and understand what we are doing for the patient. 

• Records have more content.  It's easier to put more detail and content into a daily office note.

• There’s no pulling files. Just search for a patient on EHR and the file comes up every time! This saves our office staff a lot of time so we can better serve you.

• Improved knowledge for staff and doctors. The doctor is informed on everything from scheduling  to billing. When in a room with you, he can tell you when your next visit is, what time of day it's scheduled for, he can even answer questions about your billing because he has everything in the palm of his hand. 

• Better communication. The doctor can communicate with the front desk while in the treatment room!  This communication saves time and makes our clinic more streamlined making your wait time less! 

• Improved tracking. The system has reminder pop ups such as when a new treatment schedule is needed or when a re-evaluation is needed.  

• Improved response to record requests. When another doctor, insurance company, attorney, workers comp, or any other party asks for your office notes it is very simple and fast to print them out and send them (with your permission of course).  

• Central data collection. There’s never a chance for a file to get misplaced. There’s no searching for files.

The end result means we can better serve our patients.  Our notes are much more user friendly and there is a huge improved efficiency for our staff allowing us to take better care of you!  It was a big decision going to EHR and I will admit, the first couple of months was a huge learning curve for us but at this time we know it was the best decision we could have made.  When you see me on your next visit with the new IPad in hand don’t be afraid to ask any questions you may have about EHR.