How e-Prescribing Features Improve Your Practice Life

e-Prescribing, the process of electronically fulfilling a medication prescription directly from your practice, is far from new. In fact, this service has been around long enough that the majority of patients have come to expect the convenience that accompanies it.

Most private practices are using some type of medical software that aids in the e-Prescribing process. Some may have incorporated said software because they felt obligated, but others have realized that an integrated software solution can do more than help meet the requirements for the meaningful use electronic health record (EHR) initiative.

They recognize that it may also help to improve their practice.

As the clinical leader for an electronic health record (EHR) vendor serving independent practices, I can attest that Kareo’s cloud-based software is designed with the intent to improve the unique needs of the private practice. The changes in regulations and requirements might mean you should change the way you practice, but it doesn’t have to reduce the personal connection between patients and their providers.

Improve Upon Value-Based Care

Value-based care is driven by data and has required practices to become more efficient and effective in order to reduce overall healthcare costs.

Without the automated support that accompanies e-prescribing, compiling the number of required reports could become overwhelming and significantly reduce your efficiency. Our software can make compiling this data with accurate reports both simple and manageable, which saves you valuable time. It makes tracking the quality metrics related to drug compliance much easier, but it’s also tracking quality by:

• Helping to reduce your liability with legible prescriptions
• Improving upon prescription accuracy
• Reducing medication errors
• Improving upon patient compliance
• Monitoring fraud and abuse from duplicate prescriptions

Having an automated perspective on drug interactions and prescription history  at your fingertips allows you to focus on measures that improve preventative care. This global perspective on each patient’s individual treatment can potentially reduce abuse and readmissions.

Leverage a “Heads Up” Philosophy

You won’t hear many, if any, providers state that they chose medicine for the abundance of paperwork.

The time EHR can save on administrative tasks provides the provider with more time to do what they enjoy—care for their patients. Patients often choose a practice because they want that personal connection with their provider. Someone who knows their story, and is aware of their health history. Most patients don’t enjoy waiting while the provider is writing notes, asking them to repeat their medical history, or trying to find the correct button on the computer. This won’t help to increase patient satisfaction, and gain patient loyalty. With the information right in front of you, you have more time to devote to quality communication, which gains your patient’s trust.

There are several secondary key benefits to practicing “Heads Up” Medicine with e-prescribing that help improve the patient experience by devoting your attention to your patient, not your computer. You’re still getting the essential information with an easy method of information collection by pointing and clicking.

• Reviewing key points and a simple question and answer interview can help you build your narrative.
• Your EHR is accessible on a mobile device, such an IPad, and not just on a website
• You don’t have to spend the extra time typing the narrative in each time and starting from scratch.

Save Significant Time

Time is valuable to you, and your patients. The time saved with automated support does more than make your patients happy by getting them in and out of their visit quicker, it also shows that you respect their time.

Less time waiting and more time with their providers often results in better patient satisfaction. Word of mouth is often the most effective form of marketing and satisfied patients refer new patients to help you continue to grow your business.

Our software takes care of the bulk of your work with chart, bill and fill to reduce administrative tasks and improve your workflow. It helps you write the note, ensures that you get the billing codes correct and fills the prescription and orders lab work. This allows you to improve your workflow by:

•  Getting the billing done quickly and accurately to expedite payment
•  Allowing you to see more patients in the same amount of time
•  Helping you gain a better balance between your work and personal life to reduce the risk of burnout
• Making sure your patients don’t leave because of extended wait times

Maintain a Personal Connection

Engaging more with your clients can foster patient satisfaction and loyalty to your practice. Your patients want compassionate care provided and human interaction, and you can leverage this “heads up” philosophy with the simple solutions offered in EHR software to manage the bulk of your administrative work.

Seek out technology and service solutions like e-prescribing to improve your practice, increase patient satisfaction and provide you with more time to focus on priorities to aid in the growth of your practice, rather than being burdened with administrative tasks. Because you chose to work in private practice for the patients, not the paperwork.

First published on emrandhipaa.com