How Physical Medicine EMR Software can Improve the Patient Experience
While some physicians still rely on handwritten paper records and charts, many physical medicine practices have significantly enhanced their efficiency with the adoption of EMR (Electronic Medical Records) software. More importantly, EMR systems have played a vital role to improve patient experience across various healthcare sectors.
According to the Health Affairs article “What The Evidence Shows About Patient Activation: Better Health Outcomes And Care Experiences; Fewer Data On Costs,” engaged or “activated” patients tend to achieve better health outcomes. Specialty-specific EMR software supports this engagement by streamlining record-keeping, reducing administrative burdens, and improving time management for both physicians and patients. With more accurate and accessible patient information, healthcare providers can spend more meaningful time interacting with patients—leading to more personalized care and ultimately working to improve patient experience at every touchpoint.
1. Time-Saving for Providers
Perhaps one of the most important aspects of physical medicine EMR systems is their ability to save providers valuable time. Providing specialty-specific functionality that is personalized for their medical needs right upon installation, providers are able to save time on setup and development that would otherwise be lost with a generic EMR. Features such as e-prescribing software, physical medicine document templates, office notes, and patient alerts can be used to save time on the development of patient records.
The EHR is an effective tool for physicians to efficiently document specialty specific details about patients, providing simple solutions for recording data, which can be accessed easily for diagnosis and treatment. The EMR also allows communications with other physicians from different specialties to coordinate care, allowing providers to deliver medical treatment quickly and safely.
2. Time-Saving for Patients
Shorter wait times can be achieved for patients as they are able to simply input their data into the EMR through the patient interface. For example, when patients register with the clinic, your office can send them forms online to fill out prior to coming to the clinic, resulting in a smoother check-in procedure. They can also add data to shared health records, keeping you up-to-date with their conditions, as well as updating other records, such as changes to contact information. These functions allow your practice to save precious time and helps to improve wait times for your patients, allowing you to focus on what is most important: patient care.
3. Patient Engagement
Allowing patients to enter data into their own records helps to increase patient engagement, allowing patients to contribute to and feel more in control of their own healthcare. This system also helps your staff avoid spending valuable time inputting information into the computer system, allowing the primary focus to be patient care.
Our Physical Medicine EMR also contains many other features that allow patients to better engage with your practice. These include prescription refill requests, online bill pay, Physical Medicine patient education resources, secure patient-provider messaging systems, and many more. Having this sort of integrated EMR is the best way to improve your patient’s satisfaction with your practice.
4. Information Sharing
Technology has revolutionized how healthcare providers interact with each other, making it simple for records or results to be transferred from one provider to another. Integrated EMR systems can help physical medicine providers gain instant access to their patient’s drug and family history records and other records that can help assess the effectiveness of a particular treatment plan. This record sharing not only helps improve the patient experience but can also save your practice time and make it easy for patients to take their health records with them as they seek treatment.
5. Improved Record-Keeping
Written records have often posed a problem in many practices. From hard-to-read handwriting to rushed notes and incomplete information input, handwritten records cause many issues that EMR technology can fix. Physical Medicine EMR software can encourage staff to keep more complete records by using an automated system that makes it simple to input data. EMR systems such as those from 1st Providers Choice can be customized to be as user-friendly as possible, allowing your staff to use automated systems in order to update and access the most relevant data. This helps staff maintain key patient data and ensures that information that may be forgotten is not left out, which helps to improve overall patient care.
6. Digitized Scheduling
Digitized information makes it simple for staff to schedule visits for patients and for patients to schedule appointments for themselves. Using the Physical Medicine EMR, your staff can also send prompts to remind patients to organize follow-up visits. This helps to improve the quality of service delivery and patient satisfaction.
From improving wait times, to patient engagement from interaction with their own healthcare records, EMR software can greatly help to achieve the improved patient experience your practice is looking for. For more information on how Physical Medicine EMR software for your clinic can help to improve the patient experience, contact us online or call us at 480-782-1116.