An electronic health record is a software program created to make an extensive network of information about an individual patient or the entire population’s health condition. These pieces of information are stored in a digital format, and it can be accessed and shared across different platforms that provide the same services. Electronic health records are important because they provide the information about any data about the patient, and it is now recommended by the government for the hospitals to shift to the electronic health record platforms to minimize the number of paperwork and files. Today, the number of electronic health record software programs are on the rise, and to ensure that the appropriate program is selected, one should examine the programs thoroughly. The following are the features of the electronic health record that should be considered:
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Billing
Billing is one of the most important features included in any electronic health record software. Make sure that the software program you will be using would have an efficient billing system, with each transaction being performed in the shortest amount of time. Another thing to be considered when checking the software would be its availability to send bills, take payments, and integrate all of the billing transactions into a single destination. If the software program has these capabilities, then one could be assured that their electronic health record software is efficient and will make things more convenient.
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Charting
The electronic health record software should also have the ability to create and modify charts. In the world of medicine, creating and modifying charts is one of the core responsibilities of those who are managing an electronic health record software. It is also recommended that charting should be done in real time, to avoid the medical personnel’s burnout and stress. An excellent electronic health record software would allow its user to chart as soon as they decided to start, and it would also make their jobs easier because the information they needed is readily available and it only needs to be transferred inside the program.
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Workflow
An excellent electronic health record software should provide a set of procedures to the users. If the users would never get a clear instruction from the software, they might end up messing up with the system. The users should also be aware with some of the activities needed to keep an efficient flow of instructions. Another great characteristic of good electronic health record software is the option to give its users the ability to automate appointments, reminders, phone calls, and emails.
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E-Prescribing
E-prescribing is also a new feature available in most electronic health record software. Doctors are now able to send their prescriptions to the patient online, and additional information can be added, like the patient’s allergies and other hindrances in taking medicine. Users should also consider asking some questions before they could proceed in providing the e-prescription to their patients, especially if they wanted to find out if their patients have specific restrictions about the drugs that they could use.
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Evaluation and Management Coding
Good electronic health record software would assist its users in writing a striking management and evaluation documentation. By allowing the software program to meet several standards, the odds of being paid out increases. However, one should remember that the following information has been stored and sent to the persons involved: medical records, medical history, physical exam results, diagnostic test result, etc.
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Portal for Patients
Some electronic health record software has been modified to allow the patients to do the medical services themselves. All they have to do is to log into a portal that will redirect them to a page that would allow them to modify come clinical information that they have filled in. Some of the information available to patients who have been visiting the portal would be their recent visits to the doctor, the summary of their discharges, the medications prescribed to them, a list of their immunizations and allergies, their lab results, and so much more.
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Cloud Hosting
Finally, the electronic health record software should be able to transfer files to the cloud, which makes storage easier and more secure.
Electronic health record software will change the world of medicine in the years to come, and it will provide massive relief to a lot of people having problems with their patient information and other records written in a piece of paper.
