6 Signs You Need an EHR Consultant

July 30, 2019

Everyone dislikes the current electronic health record system and no one on your staff knows how to manipulate the EHR tool to get it to do what your healthcare providers and support staff needs.

Sound familiar? You are not alone.

Setting up an EHR system is not a plug-and-play situation. In fact, each healthcare organization comes with a unique set of services, circumstances, goals, and values that need to be folded into the implementation of the EHR tool.

At the same time, developing the familiarity and in-depth knowledge of the tool is a full-time job in and of itself that no one on your staff has the bandwidth to take on.

The result: your physicians are frustrated, your staff is frustrated, and patients are frustrated. Worse still, your patients may suffer from inadequate care and your financial department may suffer from inadequate reimbursement.

If this is feeling a bit too familiar, it may be time to call in an EHR consultant.

When to Call in an EHR Consultant

Here are a few signs that the time has come to call in expert help.

1. Your Staff Is Disgruntled

In order to have any hope of accomplishing the Quadruple Aim, you need a satisfied staff. If your EHR system is breeding negativity and frustration, your patients will inevitably be the ones to shoulder the weight of that burden.

Frustration leads to misuse of the EHR tool and haphazard workarounds, which leads to inaccurate record keeping, which leads to ineffective patient care and unserviceable billing.

An unsatisfied and overwhelmed staff is the first sign that you may need an EHR consultant.

2. In-House Expertise Is Lacking

Healthcare policies are notorious for changing regularly. When they do, your EHR tool will likely need to be updated.

At the same time, workflows are constantly being updated to accommodate new verticals of service, revelations in best practices, and newly designed team structures. Again, your EHR tool needs to be updated to match the changes that have occurred in the physical space of your healthcare organization.

However, if your staff is ill equipped to handle such critical projects – such as workflow updates, data reports, policy changes, and system upgrades and maintenance – your organization requires the expertise of someone who can ensure your operations are fully compliant and optimized.

3. No One Has the Time

Time is a finite resource – one which your staff selflessly devotes to patients. Your focus should be on patient care, which makes breaking away to implement EHR improvements and changes nearly impossible without sacrificing your biggest priority.

Simply put, if no one on your team has the time to dedicate to transforming your EHR tool into something that will benefit your healthcare organization rather than hinder your processes, then it is time to seek additional help.

4. Accounts Receivable & Billing Are Inaccurate

While your physicians and support staff are putting their skills to work to save lives, there is a very real economic necessity that must happen in the background to facilitate their noble work: billing.

Due to time limits on billing and reimbursements – particularly with government programs like Medicare – ensuring your receivables are accurate is of the utmost importance. If your EHR tool is not set up to account for the time window in which claims must be submitted, your healthcare organization misses out on valuable funds that allow you to continue serving the public.

An EHR consultant can help you ensure your billing is compliant with the latest policy changes to maximize your reimbursements.

5. The Same Ideas Are Being Passed Around… Without Progress

Within your internal leadership, there are likely opinions aplenty. However, if the same ideas have been circulating for quite some time and no solutions to long-standing problems have been presented, your healthcare organization is likely crying out for a fresh perspective.

Bringing in a fresh pair of eyes can not only illuminate new solutions that have been overlooked or gone unrecognized in the past, but also an EHR consultant can identify problems you may not know exist and apply solutions at the same time.

6. Your Staff Is Craving Change

In addition to being a reliable system for managing patient care and billing, your EHR also needs to be a source of truth for your healthcare providers. If your staff no longer has faith in your EHR tool to support them in providing patient care, change may be in order.

Many healthcare organizations know the time for change has come, but are unsure of which tool to implement, are overwhelmed with the complexities of such a project, and do not know where to begin.

If you are contemplating hiring an EHR consultant to optimize your current systems or implement a new EHR solution, let us know. We can help you map out a plan of action that will take you through the stages of a successful healthcare IT project.