The Anatomy of an EHR Rescue, Part 1-How having the right EHR can rescue your career in medicine.
How can I be the best healthcare provider for my patients, keep my business in check, along with complying with the rules that govern how I should practice medicine?
Today's practice of medicine can be akin to walking on a tightrope without a net to catch you. One way that physicians can help themselves is by having the most proficient EHR systems available. Today's technology and demand for the best solutions make it possible for doctors to protect themselves now more than ever. Take Dr. Mack for example, he is an amazing doctor with unmatched skills in his field of medicine. Unfortunately, just as he is talented as a physician, he is sorely lacking in business sense. In this category, he is without proper office support, having lost his office manager of ten years to an illness that has left her debilitated. What is worse is that, he cannot make heads or tails in tracking any of his business records for the office and is left with business and patient files piling up. The stress is pulling his focus from the patient care aspect of his practice, into his practice falling apart at the seams. Because of this shift in focus, a few incidents occurred in Mack's world that had a domino effect on his career that he never anticipated.
The shift of focus from his patients caused one patient to feel ignored, unimportant and unsafe. This caused the patient to, first get another opinion and then seek another provider. This particular patient also gave Mack his first bad review online. To make matters worse, the patient filed a complaint against him, alleging acts that tied to his rude behavior, office in disarray, possible HIPAA violations (because the files were left out and seemed visible from the front desk), so on and so forth, or as Mack said, ...so on and so help me! The good news was that he was not lacking in patients and if managed correctly, his practice could thrive. Because of his great reputation, the referrals were still coming in. Hopefully, he would be able to change his practice in such a way that he would survive the unraveling of his office. If he could re-focus and keep the new patients coming in, maintain his current patients by giving excellent care, and staying on top of the changes and innovations in his specialty he could see his way out of what was becoming an insurmountable hill in his career. He needed balance in his work. When it came to patient care, management, office proficiency and more. What could Dr. Mack do in response to this? Hiring new support staff and getting a good EHR system managed to save his practice in more ways than one.
About Author:
Victoria Soto, JD is a Healthcare advocate, published author of "World’s Best Doctors", blogger (Dr. Manners) and consultant to professional organizations worldwide on relationships in the corporate world, centers of excellence.