Primary Care EMR Software Buyers Guide
Last updated: June 07, 2023
A Complete Guide to Help You Make the Right Choice
Primary Care EHR software is designed to help practitioners manage clinical workflows and simplify administrative tasks and non-clinical workflows. Primary Care EHR is divided into two basic categories; Primary Care Electronic Medical Records (EMR) and Practice Management (PM). Although in many cases, their functions and capabilities overlap each other, they usually function side-by-side.
Primary Care Electronic Medical Records
Practitioners use Primary Care Electronic Medical Records (EMR) to compile and store patient information like medical history, lab results, demographics, diseases etc. One of the biggest advantages it provides practitioners is that they can view patient information at any time they want. The objective of Primary Care EMR is to improve the efficiency of medical practices so practitioners can provide a better patient experience.
It is also known as computerized medical records or digital medical records.
Practice Management
The object of the Practice Management (PM) side is to help practitioners with administrative tasks and manage the business aspect of their medical practice. Practitioners can use PM to manage and simplify workflows. This gives them the opportunity to focus more on their patients, rather than administrative tasks.
Important Features in an EMR Software
Before purchasing any EMR software, there are a few considerations that you need to look out for. These aspects help differentiate a ‘good’ quality EMR software from a ‘bad’ quality one.
User-friendly Navigation and Experience: A user-friendly interface can help you simplify tasks and actions for your staff and help them in increasing their productivity.
Integration: You should easily be able to integrate the EMR solution you select with your existing system, irrespective of the device you are working on.
Ease of Access: You should also be able to access patient information, write e-prescriptions, check patient charts, etc. 24/7 from anywhere in the world. One of the biggest benefits of having a cloud-based EHR system is to not be restricted to your server for patient information.
Always Available for Support: When you are implementing a new digital solution, it is completely normal to run into problems. However, if you have strong support from your EMR software provider, you can easily overcome any problem you encounter during this process and afterward as well.
Before making any final decisions, it is always better to ask your provider for a Primary Care EHR Software Demo or check reviews of their past clients. This will allow you to make sure if the software you’re choosing is the right one for your practice or not. Lastly, make sure to compare the different EHR software you choose to select the one that is perfect for your Primary Care practice.
Selecting a Primary Care EMR Software for Your Practice
Now it’s time to talk about Primary Care EMR software specifically. Before making any final decisions, make sure your Primary Care EMR software contains the following features:
Templates: Your Primary EMR should also contain various templates for you to work on. These templates can help save your time, which can be better spent on more productive tasks.
Charting: Charting is a time consuming and hectic process if done manually. So a Primary Care EHR should also be able to provide documented procedures, show progress, share care summaries etc.
Medicine Management: To make matters easy, Primary Care EHR systems barcode for medicine scanning and e-prescription.
HIPAA Compliance: A Primary Care EMR Software must also ensure security and safety of patient records while guaranteeing privacy and HIPAA compliance for patient/doctor communication. The majority of the providers ensure the safety of the patient records by using advanced tools such as data encryption technologies.
Billing: A Primary Care EMR solution helps simplify your medical billing procedures by automation and providing timely verification of insurance coverage.
E-Prescribing: Primary Care EHR Software also provides e-prescribing to create, prescribe, change, and renew prescriptions with ease.
Patient Scheduling: The Primary Care EHR Software allows patients to schedule and change their appointments without any hassle. It also gives the option of enabling daily reminders and electronic booking.
Determining Your Needs
Before deciding which EHR solution to implement, it’s important to understand what your practice’s needs are. When it comes to EHR solutions, one size doesn’t fit all. Understanding your needs will not only help you decide the best solution for your practice but also help you use your EHR solution to the fullest. Primary Care EHR software is in today’s world essential for practitioners because it helps save time and money.
How to Select a Primary Care EHR Vendor?
Now that you know what kind of features you need to look for, it’s time to discuss what type of Primary Care EHR software vendor you should select for your medical practice.
Vendor and Practice Size – Firstly, you need to understand which size of companies your vendor typically aims for. After that, you need to analyze the size of your practice as well. If you have a large facility, you wouldn’t want to select an EHR vendor that only deals with small practices. Typically, the vendors that cater to larger facilities have high-cost Primary Care EMR software.
Vendor Certification – This is probably the most important aspect before selecting an EMR vendor for your practice. You need to make sure your vendor is an ONC-authorized testing and certification body (ONC-ATCB). Selecting a non-certified vendor will only bring you trouble and a nuisance to your practice.
System Design – This will probably depend on whether you want to install Primary Care EHR software on-site in your server, or use a cloud-based one. Although you’ll get more advantages with a cloud-based solution, it probably boils down to your personal preference. Whatever you choose, you’ll need to find an EMR vendor that provides the service you are looking for.
Even after making a final decision, you should use a Primary Care EMR software demo or check out their tutorials to make sure it is exactly what you’re expecting. A quick comparison of the Primary Care EMR software available in the market can also help you find the best one for your practice.
What’s the Final Step?
Before making your decision, it is essential to understand how every vendor and practice workflow is unique. For this reason, a vendor that may work for one practice may not exactly suit the other. Therefore, software experts and industry specialists are an ideal source of information, advice, and ultimately ensuring that the right decision is made.
After understanding the features and deciding upon a few potential vendors, you can also compare the pricing of the Primary Care EMR Software. After you reach a vendor with all the services, features, support, and cost plans you are looking for, you can finally make the last step and move towards its implementation.
