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If you operate a mental health clinic, you know that each day presents a new experience. You must be able to adapt to the changing needs of your patients while also maintaining control over their treatment plans.
Implementing electronic health records (EHR) into your facility’s workflow is essential. It allows you to keep track of patient information and history more efficiently and helps streamline your workflow.
In this post, we’ll look at several reasons why implementing EHR in your mental health facilities is helpful not just to you but others associated, from nurses to patients and insurance companies.
The Mental Health Sector Is Fiercely Competitive
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out the fierce competition if you’re in the mental health industry. With an estimated 12,275 registered mental health facilities in the United States alone, providers must work hard to differentiate themselves. They need to offer better service than their competitors. That’s where an electronic health record (EHR) solution can come into play if implemented correctly.
Reliable and certified EHR software will help your business stay organized. It will help keep everything compliant with regulations like HIPAA, OSHA, and CARF standards. But it’s prudent to obtain the solution from a qualified behavioral health EHR vendor.
You’ll benefit from personalized solutions and limit your chances of any mistakes that can land you in legal battles, as these solutions ought to maintain optimum accuracy. Many providers have successfully implemented a reliable EHR solution within their facility or clinic. It is now your turn to claim the rewards detailed below.
24/7 Access to Patient Records
With EHR, you and your patients get 24/7 access to patient records. This enables you to respond quickly to the needs of your patients. It also helps patients in keeping an eye on their improvement. Besides, all staff will have access to the same information preventing them from making mistakes.
In addition, 24/7 digital access to patients helps provide the necessary details to them on demand. And you’ll also comply with HIPPA regulations. HIPPA requires you to submit patient reports within 30 days of the request. With EHR, there’s no possibility of lost or misplaced data and thus making it easier to comply with such regulations.
Moreover, it helps eliminate the need to manage resource-draining paper charts. EHR systems allow you to streamline your workflow and improve efficiency by automating tasks like prescription refills or patient check-ups. It enables you to access information anytime, anywhere; thus, you are always prepared for emergencies.
Prevents Costly Errors and Mistakes
The more errors you make in your facility, the more chances of getting sued. In a survey, 4830 patients reported medical error mistakes, half of which were severe. This can cost you millions of dollars in lawsuits if found guilty. If you want to reduce the cost of lawsuits and increase patient safety, implementing EHR is a must.
EHR assures maximum accuracy and efficiency in patient records, which is essential for mental health facilities. Psychiatric patients are often complex and have multiple diagnoses with different treatment plans. EHR will help you provide accurate dosages of medications and therapies to each patient and track their progress accurately.
Improvises Treatment Plans
A study revealed that 12 million Americans are misdiagnosed, resulting in 40,000 to 80,000 deaths annually. This puts the patient at risk of receiving incorrect treatment solutions and could lead them to an improper or no diagnosis.
The correct EHR systems make you transparent about your patient’s health. This allows for exact screening and more efficient treatment strategies. You will be working with accurate information when developing new knowledge about patients’ conditions and medication responses.
Saves Money on Paper Supplies
One of the biggest benefits of using an electronic health record (EHR) is that it reduces the need for paper. This keeps costs down on materials and cuts down on time spent printing and maintaining documents.
In addition, there are fewer paper jams with EHRs because they use less ink or toner than printed documents. As you can imagine, this makes a massive difference in terms of time and space usage at your mental health facility.
Allows Hassle-Free Billing
A recent example is a credit expert in the USA who was given one aspirin by the hospital while giving birth. Instead of $4 per aspirin, she was charged over $500. If such inaccuracy or overcharged bills occur at your clinic, it will risk lawsuits and affect patient care.
This underscores how fundamental billing is in the healthcare industry. It deals with staff, insurance companies, patients, and other vendors. It must be accurate and timely to avoid disputes with your customers or partners like insurance companies. It must also be easy to do so that you can focus on providing better services instead of pulling data from multiple sources and correcting errors.
The best EHR platform should make it easy for you or the person responsible for handling billing tasks. All thanks to interfaces that are intuitive and streamline workflow. They don’t make you deal with complex codesets or error-prone manual workflows that plague many health systems today.
Secures Sensitive Information
The importance of confidentiality in mental healthcare cannot be stressed enough. With the installation of a trusted EHR solution, you can help prevent data breaches and identity theft.
A secure EHR system aids in the prevention of patient records from being hijacked or exploited by outsiders. There is the assurance of high-level security for sensitive patient data.
Conclusion
While EHR is not the only way to implement a paperless mental health facility, it will help you streamline your processes and reduce costs. EHR can also improve patient care by providing access to their medical history anywhere there is an Internet connection. Implementing EHRs in your mental health institution might be difficult, but it will be worthwhile in the coming years.
