What EMR System Is Right for Your Sleep Medicine Practice

There are many different Electronic Medical Records (EMR) software and features available. However, which ones will work best for your Sleep Medicine practice?

Determining which EMR system is best for a practice can be difficult. Even so, many sleep facilities are unable to do their jobs effectively without a good system. This article will discuss the factors you need to consider to determine the right EMR for your Sleep Medicine practice.

6 Key Elements for Sleep Medicine EHR Software

It’s essential to consider your goals when choosing an EHR system. That’s because EHRs affect every aspect of the practice. To be efficient, sleep medicine practices desire an all-in-one EHR with billing, inventory, patient accounting, and practice management software. Before making any choices, try to assess your options thoroughly. It’s always a good idea to get several references, evaluate a vendor’s credibility, and ask for more suggestions. Here are six elements you need to consider when choosing an EMR system for your Sleep Medicine Practice: 

   1. Integration

EHRs provide functions such as e-prescribing, requesting laboratory tests, and electronic results. However, the functionality of all EHR systems is not always the same for every laboratory, hospital, and pharmacy. Speak to EMR vendors about the interfaces they use. Inquire on whether or not they are compatible with most facilities in your area to ensure interoperability. Many vendors can create additional integrations upon request. 

   2. Implementation and Training 

It’s vital to know your vendor’s plan for getting your system up and running. Some implementation and training can take a few weeks to a few months. Furthermore, most vendors provide physician and staff training to ensure that everybody in practice is familiar with the new software. Sometimes, a provider may offer free one-on-one support after a device’s installation.

Our installation process encompasses the following essential skill sets: project management, applications expertise, interface design/build, and technical engineering. Our diverse skills and expertise ensure that 1st Providers Choice understands your needs and technical environment to help reach the optimum efficiency of your operations.

   3. Customer Service 

Getting used to a new sleep medicine EMR system is a big challenge. You’ll want to make sure the EMR provider will be there to help you. If the company’s customer service is difficult to contact or uninterested in answering your questions before purchasing, you might find it challenging to work out your new system later. An effective transition to a new EMR system requires establishing a good working relationship with the selected vendor. 

Providing seamless and timely installation and customer service is the expertise of our 1st Providers team. We offer the following services to kick-start your new system:

• Software installation
• Data conversion
• EMR support & training
• Remote backup services
• Computer networking
• HIPAA compliant storage

   4. Ease of Use 

The simplicity of use of an EMR system is perhaps the most crucial feature. If a system isn’t easy, it can stifle productivity while employees struggle to complete repetitive tasks.  Most vendors give prospective customers free trials or live demos of their systems. You take advantage of these opportunities to determine if the system will be beneficial or detrimental to your practice. Remember, you’ll be using the system every day. Thus, it shouldn’t take you away from your patients or add hours to your daily workload. It’s not just the provider that needs training on how the system works. The billing managers and office staff need to understand how it works, as well.

   5. Meaningful Use Certified/ICD-10 Ready 

The federal Meaningful Use standards decide whether an EHR system achieves its goal of being communicative and reliable. You will face reimbursement penalties if the system you chose falls short and you proceed with the attestation process. Furthermore, there is the recent switch from ICD-9 to the far more comprehensive ICD-10. Thus, it’s critical to know if your device is ready. If the device sends invalid ICD-10 codes, payers may reject payments. ICD-10 has been around long enough that a reputable EHR provider has had plenty of time to ensure correct coding with the required updates.

     6. Customizable

EHRs customization matters a lot. When an EHR system is customizable, it can meet both the needs and challenges of a practice. Customer-specific tools, templates, and other features make custom EHRs more intuitive than standard records systems. On the other hand, a generic system forces you to write down the patients’ symptoms. It also reads the pattern and suggests auto-fills, increasing doctor-patient time and decreasing time spent on the EHR. 

A customizable EHR system for your sleep medicine practice is the better choice. The two examples of EHR customizations are consent forms that pair with procedure templates and physician call lists accessible to providers. In addition, you must ensure that a customizable EHR system allows and simplifies data management from technician workups to examinations. As a result, patients have a better overall experience and will be more likely to return. 

Providing you with the Best

Choose only the best for your Sleep Medicine 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 Pain Management 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.