The implementation of electronic health records (EHR) in medical practices can create a complicated scenario for medical professionals. While electronic medical records simplify patient care, modernize a practice, and help reduce errors, medical professionals are still navigating the challenges, especially if they are not used to using technologies.
So what are some of the biggest obstacles to implementing an electronic health record system that is faced by medical professionals today? Patient engagement, productivity, and operating costs are at the forefront. But with software designed for the users' experience, these obstacles no longer exist, as in the case of software for medical clinics Ninsaúde Apolo.
Before we continue, we need to ask: Do you already know our system Ninsaúde Apolo for health clinics? The health software Ninsaúde Apolo has an agile and complete schedule, personalized electronic medical records for each specialty, and with legal validity, teleconsultation, financial control, and much more. Schedule a demo or try the Ninsaúde Apolo clinic's software right now!
How much should medical practices budget for an electronic medical record?
Starting or opening a medical practice is expensive. Finding the money to invest in training, office support, infrastructure, and an electronic health record poses challenges, especially for smaller physician practices. So how should clinicians plan for the most cost-effective medical record?
If they were to be created from scratch, for example, the health professional would create his own electronic medical record from scratch, he would have to pay for the Hardware costs - servers, computers, and other peripherals, the EHR software itself - with all development costs including additions and updates. Assistance, with IT contractors, system maintenance, installation consulting support, data conversion, and workflow support, beyond ongoing maintenance (including hardware and software license maintenance agreements, IT support fees, and ongoing staff education). An initial estimated value for all these items would be $70,000.00.
When we talk about big implementations, like in a hospital, these values can go way higher, from $ 5 million up to $20 million. As technology progresses, medical offices must stay ahead of the curve by investing in advanced EHR systems, so yes, investing in an EHR is worth it. Therefore, it is much easier to look for already existing solutions, where the cost will be reduced to a minimum.
The costs are now just the value of using the software, including all the benefits and tools it includes. But for the amount paid to still be well used, it is necessary not only to choose the cheapest software available but also to analyze everything that the software brings, ensuring the best benefit over the contract period.
With the Ninsaúde Apolo software for clinics and medical offices, you not only have the electronic medical record function, but all the tools you need to manage your medical practice, whether in terms of finances, material stock control, data, and patient security, telemedicine and appointments, and much more.
Correct tools
The more time a medical professional spends analyzing, caring for, and communicating with a patient, the more satisfied the patient is with the quality of care. Research shows that physicians increase patient satisfaction by improving the way they interact with patients in five areas:
- Expectations: ask patients what they want from the visit;
- Attendance Time: Satisfaction rates improve as the duration of the visit increases;
- Communication: patients view their consultation experience positively if the doctor takes the problem seriously, explains the patient's health condition easily and clearly, and offers practical medical advice;
- Appearance: Patients prefer doctors who dress in semi-formal attire rather than a white coat, totally casual, or suit;
- Control: Allow the patient to control some narratives about the visit and practice shared decision-making.
While some medical professionals struggle to spend more time with patients, this is not the reality even in the best cases. Surveys show that 1/3 of physicians said they spend 20 hours or more weekly on office and administrative tasks. A study found that medical professionals spend an astonishing 4.5 hours (average) daily completing charts and other patient-related tasks. Having an electronic medical record should simplify practice management, not complicate it, and that is what the Ninsaúde Apolo software works for.
Another factor that hinders efficiency is when professionals deal with multiple tools, this affects wait times, patient care, and productivity. In this case, if the patient reception process is dispersed and inefficient, it increases the physician's workload and decreases the quality of the interaction with the patient. Studies reveal that the main factors influencing patient "no-show" rates often include poor service quality and long wait times.
An efficient, intuitive, and fully integrated electronic health record system means less paperwork, less staff, and more productivity. An electronic medical record system that streamlines routine medical practice and management tasks can be a game-changer for healthcare providers, especially those with smaller practices.
And no matter the size of your team, Ninsaúde Apolo has several features that reduce the time spent on administrative tasks and consequently increase the time that professionals and clinical staff can spend with patients, thus offering a higher quality service.
It should be clear that failing to use an integrated electronic health record system can jeopardize a clinic's smooth operations and harm its future bottom line. That is, intuitive, efficient, and fully integrated software means less paperwork, less staff, and more productivity.
How does the Ninsaúde Apolo software improve patient service and finances?
It should be clear that not using an integrated electronic print book system can jeopardize a clinic's smooth operations and jeopardize its bottom line and future financial health. Forward-thinking healthcare professionals need forward-thinking solutions. An advanced medical record system can give providers a competitive edge and revolutionize their medical practice for optimal efficiency and performance.
With that in mind, what if a practice had fully integrated software that offered multiple features for patient engagement, professional communications, and office productivity? The Ninsaúde Apolo software for clinics and medical offices is the complete tool for this, ensuring the security of your data and improving the performance and practicality of your clinic.
Among Ninsaúde Apolo's tools, we can highlight some that will benefit and improve the communication of your practice:
- Improve Patient Engagement: Make it easy to interact with patients in the methods they prefer, such as email and secure messaging, including HIPAA compliance. The Apolo sign tool, for example, allows you to send documents, budgets, instructions, and images, and all of this is protected and can be signed by the medical clinic and the patient.
- Increase Productivity: reducing the need to waste time on multiple solutions that only complicate medical practices. Professionals can simplify the management of electronic medical forms, adding forms directly from the patient's file, without having to open an appointment to fill in the information.
- Simplify clinic communication: where medical professionals can securely coordinate care with other professionals and free up valuable staff time. Healthcare professionals may choose to share medical records with their colleagues to obtain second opinions or jointly treat a specific patient condition.
- Financial control: enter all receipts and payments of your clinic in one place. Having cash flow and DRE just a click away.
Keep following the blog for more content like this. Are you a healthcare professional but still don't use management software? Are you ready to transform your practice with new solutions? Get to know the system for clinics Ninsaude Apolo.
Written by Michele Martins
Translated by Karina Romão