We all know that electronic health record (EHR) systems are valuable tools for storing and accessing information, but did you know that medical practices could use them for other functions? They can. In fact, because of their versatility and compatibility, health care offices could use EHR software for many purposes. https://eyecareleaders.com/how-ehr-improves-cash-flow/

1. How Could EHR Systems Improve
Practices’ Cash Flow
We all know that electronic health record (EHR) systems are valuable tools
for storing and accessing information, but did you know that medical
practices could use them for other functions?
They can. In fact, because of their versatility and compatibility, health care
offices could use EHR software for many purposes.
EHR systems could help medical offices improve their cash flow and
manage their revenue. People might think of medical practices in terms of
the health conditions they treat, but they’re also businesses.
Medical professionals could use EHR systems to help with both–and much
more.
Offer additional RCM assistance
One of the benefits of electronic health record (EHR) systems is that they’re
not isolated tools.
Medical practices use EHRs for many functions, and they use them with
other types of software. Many people have access to EHRs and what they
can do.
In fact, they might ask for assistance to fully capitalize on their functions.
Many EHR systems have prolonged customer support features. Many EHR
and practice management (PM) systems have people they could call for
assistance with technical issues or other matters.
One of these matters is revenue cycle management, or RCM. a process that
manages and collects a medical practice’s bills.
PM and EHR systems may be affiliated with services that provide RCM, such
as answering questions and advice about managing revenue. They may also
hire and manage people who could help with billing-related processes.

2. Allow copayments (copays)
Other EHR-related tasks could help generate and track revenue.
RCM professionals could use information from EHRs and other data to
simplify the billing process. They might use such information to verify
whether patients have specific insurance plans and determine what the
plans cover (and don’t cover).
During the verification processes, professionals could determine whether
patients are responsible for any copayments (copays) for the goods or
services your office has provided. If they are, offices could bill them for
those copays and even collect those payments at that time.
Immediate payment means immediate revenue for your office. It prevents a
lengthy claims process involving insurance companies and shortens or
eliminates billing cycles that patients might miss, ignore, or forget.
Coordinate with billing software
But not all billing and payment processes happen on the spot, of course.
An effective EHR system allows medical practices to coordinate with
systems that handle billing and other financial matters.
It provides detailed information about appointments, conditions,
medications, and the chronologies surrounding them. By adding this
information to bills and other financial documents, medical offices could
create detailed, accurate bills.
Such bills could explain which specific services and goods the medical
practice provided, when it provided them, and the conditions these
treatment efforts addressed.
Seeing such detail, patients may be less likely to question their bills or delay
paying them. The detail will also provide a record of the care they received
that they could consult for future reference.

3. Use portals for billing purposes
Patients might access these bills on their online patient portals.
Using these portals for billing purposes is a natural fit. These portals include
information from their electronic health records, so again, the information
is accurate and up to date.
Medical offices might want to send these bills–and reminders about these
bills through the portals. They also might want to send billing reminders
through other forms of communication, such as email or text messages, to
draw attention to the bills posted on the portal.
Once patients access their bills, they can also use the portals’ messaging
features to ask their medical providers about them. They can also use
portals and credit cards to pay what they owe.
Digital portals, then, might use EHR-based information to provide a one-
stop shop for billing, or at least eliminate some of the steps of such
procedures.
Affiliate with in-person and digital sales
Using EHR-based information to coordinate with other systems and
procedures is especially useful if you sell goods related to your medical
specialty.
If you’re an eye care provider, for instance, you might sell eyeglasses and
contact lenses online through your website or in person at an onsite
optical. Why not use your records to make these purchasing processes
easy?
Your office’s electronic records will include the results of your patients’
appointments, descriptions of their eye conditions, and prescriptions. You
could coordinate this information with your other software systems to help
patients select their eyewear products, pay for them, and track their orders.
Employees, too, could use these systems to find and track
information related to patients’ orders and health. If patients are
purchasing new products, the systems could help ensure they use the

4. correct prescriptions, or they might want to compare old prescriptions to
new ones to monitor their eye health.
Coordinated software systems thus take the guesswork out of
recordkeeping and purchasing processes.
Incorporate analytics to understand your patient base
That’s not to say all technology-based guessing is a bad thing, however.
Data found in EHRs could help medical practices make estimated guesses
and projections that could improve their performance.
Your EHR contains a wealth of information about who your patients are,
what they do, and what’s happening with their health and other aspects of
your life. Analytic tools could organize this information to look for
potentially helpful patterns.
Do patients who bought eyewear from you tend to have certain things in
common (aside from vision that needs correcting)? If other patients share
such traits, consider telling them about your optical services.
Or, maybe analysis will remind you that your practice serves many patients
who are children or teenagers. Armed with this knowledge, you could carry
eyewear and literature that targets people of those ages or patients that
belong to other demographic groups.
Knowing your customers could help you address their needs. We
understand patient and practice needs as well. Contact Eye Care Leaders to
find ways to learn about, incorporating, and maximizing digital tools that
could help you raise revenue without sacrificing patient care.