Use your EMR software to help you achieve excellent standards of patient care.As a medical care provider, you strive for excellence and your patients expect that you’ll take their health seriously. Sometimes, mistakes happen. While some medical errors are minor, others can have life threatening implications.
Your electronic medical records (EMR) software can help you ensure that your office is set up to avoid medical mistakes.
Asking Good Questions
Sometimes a simple error in basic patient information can lead you to miss out on an opportunity to remind your patient about a follow up appointment or talk to that person about test results. When a patient comes for an appointment, your EMR software can trigger you to ask about changes in the patient’s health status and contact information. That way, you’ll be better able to connect with and serve your patients.
Tracking Prescriptions
Errors in prescriptions or refills or drug interactions are something that you, your patient’s pharmacy, and your patient should all watch for, since a prescription error could have very serious health implications for your patient. Unfortunately, errors do happen. Good tracking through EMR medical software can help you avoid these errors. You’ll have a place to put current prescription information and track how this has changed over time, and if a pharmacy contacts you for clarification or renewal you’ll have the information at your fingertips. Your EMR software should interface and integrate with other office software so that it can be of maximum use when you’re trying to catch errors in your recordkeeping systems.
Reminders About Tests
Your EMR medical software can help you be proactive about your patients’ health. As patients age, they need to come in for certain screenings and tests. They may have trouble with their hearing or vision and may need cancer screenings for common cancers such as prostate and breast cancer. Medical software can help you encourage patients to get tested by flagging those patients who are approaching a particular birthday or due for another exam. Early intervention may help your patients avoid more serious medical problems later in life.
Meeting Health Parameters
You know when a patient’s readings are off, but does your medical tracking system show this? Medical records software not only collects your patients’ information and tracks their needs, it can help show you patterns in medical tests that can alert you to potential health concerns. Electronic medical records can monitor how your patients are doing on their blood pressure readings or other medical tests so that you can easily see how this has changed over time and flag any health concerns.
Following Up
A medical office is a busy place, and although you try to follow up after receiving a patient’s test results, sometimes follow up can be slow or fall through the cracks. EMR software can help your necessary to dos stay on your list and you can set up reminders for follow up appointments. This is also helpful when patients have a series of appointments and miss one. Your medical software will track this and help you get your patients back on track.
If you’re looking at medical software for your practice, electronic medical recordkeeping could benefit more than your office workflow. Better medical recordkeeping can also benefit your patients’ health. Contact PracticeSuite today to talk about our plans and pricing, and try out trial version in your practice.
