How a Customized-EMR Can Help Psychiatry Practices in Treating Substance Abuse Cases

With constant technological advances, healthcare procedures and delivery for billions of patients improve right before our eyes. Although EMRs have made great strides towards improving healthcare, now is not the time to become complacent. EHR templates are evolving, becoming more accurate, efficient, and easy to use. That’s why various practices in the healthcare system customize their EMR to fit their specific needs. Psychiatry practices might also benefit from custom EMRs, especially for treating substance abuse cases that affect many people.

A Brief Look at Substance Abuse Software

The substance abuse software meets the needs of substance abuse and drug rehabilitation centers. Substance software is both functional and operational. Administrative operations include scheduling appointments, billing, and communicating with patients. E-prescribing, patient charting, and radiology information systems (RIS) are all functional requirements. If you are choosing an EMR for substance abuse treatment, consider a customized one that will improve clinic efficiency and quality of care. For example, you should ensure that your EMR can accommodate handling multiple patients at once if your facility conducts meetings for group counseling. Outpatient facilities don’t have the same needs as inpatient facilities. A feature of many substance abuse EMRs allows agencies to share and collaborate clinical data. Furthermore, the financial requirements of substance abuse centers vary. Thus, make sure that the system supports billing and typical payers.

What Is Substance Abuse?

Substance abuse is a complex disorder. It should be taken seriously. An individual who misuses alcohol, prescription medicine, and other legal or illegal substances can develop the disorder. However, substance abuse is not the same as addiction. Many substance abusers are able to quit or change their behavior. Addiction, in contrast, is a chronic disease. Regardless of a substance’s harmful effects, you cannot stop using it.

Is a Customized-EMR Useful to Psychiatry Practices?

In 2019, 52 million American adults suffered from mental illness, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. It is estimated that 55% of adults with any mental illness did not receive mental health services during that time. Health care professionals in psychiatry practices can use an EMR system to improve access to quality mental health care.

A customized EMR may benefit your psychiatry practice when treating substance abuse cases by having:

A Customized-EMR That Integrates Cross-Service Communication

People with mental health problems may have physical issues as well. For instance, a person with a substance abuse history is at an increased risk of developing medical conditions such as cardiovascular disease. It is helpful to communicate with a psychiatrist or other health care professionals for a more accurate diagnosis and better clinical care. Adopting a customized EMR system facilitates smooth communication between providers and eliminates phone tags.

A Customized-EMR Improves Medication Management. 

In psychiatric practice, physicians must monitor medications for patient safety. It is also an essential aspect of care. Physicians can track prescriptions in real-time using a customized EMR system, eliminating double-dosing and reducing prescription errors. Additionally, a customized EMR system simplifies prescribing medications. It also makes it easier for patients to fill their prescriptions. A study also reported that 76% of patients said customized EMRs helped them obtain medications more quickly. 

Through a customized EMR system, all medical data is centralized and analyzed. So, physicians and psychiatrists can track and discover which medication and therapeutic methods have been most effective for specific patients. Also, they can adjust treatment for patients with a substance abuse history.

As another option, you can also customize your EMR system to operate a secure teletherapy platform. Teletherapy consists of video-conferencing sessions between clients and physicians. You can help clients at home even if they can’t leave the house due to mental or physical disabilities or lack of transportation. With this, psychiatrists or doctors can offer accurate and individualized health care.

A Customized-EMR That Tailors Psychiatry-Specific Needs

For a psychiatric clinic to be efficient, a customized EMR must include several features specific to psychiatry. Patients should be able to fill out built-in questionnaires online:

• ASRS for ADHD assessment
• GAD-7 for anxiety
• PHQ-9 for depression
• AUDIT for alcohol use disorders
• SADQ for alcohol dependence

A Customized-EMR With Built-in Patient Evaluation

Monitoring mental health symptoms through patient self-evaluation and reporting are crucial at some times. For instance, patients with a history of substance abuse can see whether they can answer questions about mental health through quizzes and surveys. Modern technology allows patients to receive medical care without having to leave their homes. In addition, psychological testing and questionnaires can all be taken online with customized electronic medical data capture forms. Physicians in psychiatry practices can access all patient answers immediately, such as test scores, analytics, and other information. 

A Customized-EMR With Automated Notes

For a medical practice, using a customized EMR system with automatic notepads prevents the creation of illegible notes. In specific cases of patients with substance abuse histories, there’s a chance that doctors may have their notes exchanged with other patients’ records. Unreadable notes lead to miscommunication between healthcare providers and staff, which could compromise patient safety. If a patient comes to this realization, he can no longer trust the provider or, perhaps, file a lawsuit. Indeed, it is not easy for a psychiatry practice to treat patients with substance abuse problems. The best psychiatry EMR must be customizable to benefit your practice, the provider, and, most importantly, the patient. 

Now, you can provide the best treatment for substance abuse cases by choosing a customized EMR solution for your psychiatric practice.

Providing you with the Best

Choose only the best for your Psychiatry practice. 

At 1st Providers Choice, we understand the need and expectations of our clients for a higher level of performance for billing software and EMR software. That’s why we only offer the top tailored medical billing system and EHR with features that will allow your Psychiatry practice to operate at its optimum potential, save time, and double your revenue.

You can call us at (480) 782-1116 for immediate assistance, or you can schedule a free demo with our experts TODAY.