Three Quick Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your Electronic Health Record (EHR)
Since most EHRs are astronomically priced, getting the most from your system is imperative. Tip #1 – the most important aspect of using an EHR in your practice is to get in the habit of documenting as much as you can while in the exam room with your patient. Subjective and objective data should easily flow into the EHR, and completing as much of your assessment and plan during the encounter translates directly into whether you’ll be home in time for dinner.
This may seem obvious, but you’d be amazed how many physicians spend hour after hour at the end of the day trying to recall the visit and stumble through multiple menus and windows trying to get the data into their EHR. If you find that documenting with your EHR takes as long as the patient visit, you’ve experienced first-hand why the concept of EHR usability is now becoming a critical issue, and why some unhappy physicians are calling for EHR Lemon Laws.
This leads to Tip #2: codify only the data that needs to be codified. Though many EHRs, designed by programmers and database administrators, have decided that every bit of data deserves its own database field, this is not feasible given the volume of information generated during a visit. While medications, allergies, blood pressure, and other data needs its own place, being forced to check box after box to record “three days of dry cough,” makes little sense and ensures you’ll be spending more time doing your notes than you did when using paper charts.
Finally, Tip #3 is to be sure to harness the power of your staff when using your EHR. Having staff enter demographics, document as much of the chief complaint and HPI as possible, and doing other tasks within the EHR can save you valuable time. Most EHRs have an integrated intra-office messaging function that can really boost office productivity, and encouraging your staff to use it for everything – including refill requests and confirming your lunch order – should be a priority.
Any tips you’d like to share with readers?
Thanks for the update of information. Keep them coming. I find it important and necessary to have a feel for what is coming and what is not, so that I can better deal with all the other demands that seem to be ever increasing on my practice.
New User, Long Time Fan.
David Martin MD Austin, Tx
Thank you for these tips. You are very correct you need to document while you are in the room with the patient. I find it very difficult be on the computer and interact with my patients like I have in the past. The computer seems to detract from my usual close interactions with patients. Do you know of any resources to to help in this transition. Has anyone used scribes effectively?