Internal Medicine EMR—How to Identify the Best for Your Practice
In practicing internal medicine, no day is the same. The range of conditions, complaints and patient reactions is so vast it can actually be challenging to manage. Is there a better way of handling charting, billing and appointments of such a complex health care niche?
That’s why you need to invest time in not only finding any EMR but a very specific, niche appropriate internal medicine EMR.
What Does a Good EMR Look Like?
Important to note: You can’t settle for any general EMR software package. However, certain features form the foundation of your infrastructure and all EMRs need them. This includes:
- Keeping you secure: You need protection against hacking and your patient data must be kept secure. Your service provider should give you some guarantees, especially if data is hosted on its servers.
- Being user friendly: There’s no sense in implementing technology that will only slow you down. Read reviews to find out if other practices found the EMR software easy to use. Also ask for training from your vendor so your staff is empowered from the start. Software should be helping, not hampering.
- Backed by quality customer service: You can’t run the risk of systems being down. It affects patient care and revenue. And what if you’re unsure about a software feature? Make sure your vendor will be available when you need a technician.
- Smart layout: The program should facilitate processes with as few clicks as possible, and with the minimum number of windows open so you don’t have to switch between them. Each second you save is one you can use elsewhere.
But this isn’t enough yet. Not if you want to give your patients the optimized care they trust you to provide.
What Does the Ideal Internal Medicine EMR Look Like?
When you’re involved in internal medicine you face adult patients on a daily basis, each one unique. Here’s what you need to provide them with quality care in an organized practice environment.
Ready for Anything
Adults visiting your medical rooms will come with one of many ailments, concerns or symptoms. You need to be ready for almost anything. And your EMR must be too.
EMRs that work for certain niches need to support exactly what that niche treats with templates. Templates are important because that’s why EMR software makes sense: Use technology to make a consultation flow faster. With a few clicks you can have charting done instead of wasting va