The Challenges in Implementing EHR

Posted by mgsionline on October 4th, 2012

Many healthcare facilities have changed from traditional paper charts to the electronic mode! Automating patient encounters and medical billing and coding processes electronically has become the latest trend. Especially, with the emergence of EMR software, the healthcare domain is at the cusp of an electronic revolution. From easy accessibility, space, time and cost saving, and disaster recovery management to data accuracy, improved workflow, and enhanced claim submission & reimbursement process, the benefits of Electronic Medical Record software are endless. Of course, to enjoy these benefits seamlessly, a healthcare facility or provider will have to face a few challenges while implementing EHR/EMR software. Let us consider a few:

Requirements: When a healthcare facility chooses to implement EMR software and Practice Management systems to carryout medical billing and coding processes, then several aspects of it must be considered. It is highly significant that one should check for the software’s compliance to CCHIT, HIPAA, and HL7 standards. A thorough analysis has to be made in hardware requirement and the expenses involved while choosing between a client-server based model and a web based (cloud based) model.

Adapting to the Change:  One of the major hassles a healthcare facility would face is adapting to the new change caused by the sudden shift of using automated EHR/EMR software from manual paper-based medical records. It will take some time for the staff to understand and get used to this electronic method of documenting medical records and billing.  One of the biggest challenges in implementation is the training of staff.

Need for Skills: Implementing Electronic Medical Record software will require a new set of skills. In order to accomplish this need, a healthcare administrator may want to deploy a new team of experts with advanced technical knowledge in the software which will cost a lot financially. Instead of deploying a new team, most healthcare facilities will train their existing employees on EMR software skills thinking they can reduce operational costs. However, the simple fact is that expenses are huge in this case as well.

Upgrading Overheads: In the initial phase of implementation, a healthcare facility will consume a lot of time to store the old paper-based medical records on a Document Management System and integrate it with the new Electronic Medical Record software. It will definitely have a huge impact on the day-to-day business.

Financial Implications: Start-up costs and software maintenance costs involved in the implementation of EHR/EMR software will be higher, so small groups of healthcare providers or single Provider practices will find it harder to incorporate it.  The advent of the web-based or cloud based systems have brought the expenses down and within reach of these groups.

In order to have an easy transition, a healthcare provider or facility has to get help from a professionally sound company that can offer both the EMR and also provide medical billing services. MGSI, LLC is one such company that will make implementing Electronic Medical Record software a breeze. 

About MGSI:

MGSI, a company with 12 years of service based in Tampa, Florida renders high-quality medical billing services to its clients.  MGSI, whose current Executive Management team has been together for the past 20 years providing medical revenue cycle management services for all specialties, has collected in excess of $1. 5 Billion dollars for its clients.  MGSI continues to enjoy collection results and ‘days to collect’ that are significantly better than national averages.  To know more about MGSI and our services, log on to our website at www.mgsionline.com