Federally Qualified Health Centers are using an EMR/EHR system to manage patient records. EMR/EHR system is good but are they built to manage patient referrals? How can a patient referral management software work in cohesion?
6. Improved Data
Accessibility
Before EHRs, access to medical charts required a
fair amount of physical labor. For example, every
time a patient visits the physician’s clinic or
hospital, physician physically pulls their file from
a storage space. There was also a greater chance
of human error and charts would sometimes be
missing information or be chronologically out-of-
order.
EHRs, on the other hand, have eliminated the
physical transporting, sifting and filing charts,
making data available at all times. Additionally,
for systems that allow remote access to charts,
clinicians can even be offsite and still securely
access patient files.
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7. Improved Data
Accessibility
2 CPOE allows physicians to place lab and imaging
orders, prescriptions and other notes
electronically.
This reduces the error of handwritten orders and
allows the patient’s other physicians within the
same network access to the order.
8. Preventative
Health
3 EHRs allow prompts for preventative health
screenings. During routine doctor or urgent care
visits, the physician has access to preventive
health records conveniently in one place.
If the patient is due for a cancer screening (such
as mammogram or colonoscopy), or blood
pressure testing, the referral coordinator can
easily look this up via the EHR system and
schedule an appointment for the patient.
9. Ease sign off for
PAs and NPs
4 While this varies from state-to-state by law,
physician assistants and nurse practitioners are
typically required to have their notes approved
and signed off on by their supervising physician.
EHRs allow the revision and co-signing of notes
to happen electronically as opposed to
physically moving and signing the paper.
10. e-Messaging
Between
Providers
5 As any referral coordinator can attest referral
information, telephone tag between providers can
be common and is a big time-waster. With EHR
software, physicians can e-message across
practices.
Rather than playing telephone tag to get an
appointment scheduled, the physician
electronically sends a message to schedule the
appointment.
