To understand how your healthcare practice can offer an integrated work environment that includes protected health data, communications, and contact information kept within one network of electronic records, you must first grasp what EMR integration entails. EMR and EHR systems cost millions of dollars to healthcare providers and hospitals. However, most of these electronic medical records are siloed and incompatible, resulting in decreased partnerships and data sharing among healthcare organizations. In other words, this shows the need for interoperability.
EMR system integration is required to bridge gaps and build a seamless solution for your healthcare applications. Moreover, EMR systems integration provides healthcare professionals and patients a platform to interact, prevent errors, and track critical information efficiently. Most medical facilities use these platforms to streamline sensitive patient data to a centralized location.
Besides, integrating an EMR system into your healthcare organization can offer multiple advantages. And to name a few- it allows patients to arrange appointments and check their records, communicate with doctors from anywhere in the world, and ask questions of the doctor, all while increasing efficiency and providing better patient care! EMR in the medical system has the potential to have a substantial impact on your practice. And not just patient care outcomes or staff productivity, but this medical charting software can also boost the medical billing system, ultimately improving the revenue.
This article will present a take on how EMR medical systems and EMR billing software solutions impact healthcare practices.
EMR Integration in Medical Systems
Healthcare organizations generate massive amounts of sensitive data critical to patient care and outcomes. Medical systems that integrate EMR software can not only store patient health records, test sequences, and charts but also make it easy to access, manage, and retrieve this data. All data is readily available to doctors and care providers at all times. With these EMR and EHR integration solutions, organizations can drastically reduce expenditures, reduce charting errors, and remove physical paperwork.
Here are some essential integrations with healthcare applications that will enable EMR medical system to boost patient outcomes and interoperability.
1. Telehealth/RPM
Remote patient monitoring and telehealth solutions are preferable in healthcare, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic and its constraints. EMR integration in telemedicine solutions can enable providers to offer optimized virtual care and support while minimizing clinical workflow complexities. It’s an end-to-end bidirectional link that ensures patient data flow is seamless and continuous. Besides, this integration allows practitioners to enter and store patient information. And not just that, this integrated electronic medical records software can handle diagnoses, prescriptions, and medicines.
2. Laboratory Information System
Integrating medical records software (EMR) with a Laboratory Information System (LIS) avoids challenges with receiving error-prone and time-consuming lab orders. The process is streamlined, and the lab procedure moves smoothly from order generation to receiving.
3. Medical Device Integration
Medical Device Integration (MDI) is the integration of electronic medical records software at the point of care. Tracking biomedical equipment from production through servicing was previously handled by monolithic internal systems. Today, ORs, ICUs, and other hospital wards can better handle data around smart beds, anesthesia carts, finger cuffs, and ventilators using EMR.
EMR integration in Medical Billing
As per the MBW report, revenue leakage costs hospitals between 3-5% of their annual revenue. The leakage occurs as a result of ineffective management of paper-based medical records. As a result, clinics are readily migrating to paperless and digitized EMR billing software solutions, which vastly improve data management and documentation.
Clinics leveraging EMR medical software can improve accuracy in tracking and reporting concerns. And that further simplifies the medical billing process. Integrated medical billing solutions streamline the healthcare reimbursement process, which includes claim administration, payment, and revenue generation. Furthermore, these integration services make medical billing more efficient with precise claim coding, tracking, and invoicing.
The EMR billing software speeds up the healthcare organization’s digitization process and increases the efficiency and quality of medical treatment. Integrated medical billing systems can also improve the accuracy of billing-related activities such as claim management, payment processing, and tracking/reporting concerns.
Besides, you must ensure that integrated EMR billing software solutions can automate the entire operation. And with EHR integration, the medical billing system can generate charts for medical claims, which include patient visit data, diagnostic details, and test findings. In other words, the medical billing solution must incorporate all parts of the practice’s operations.
Integrating EMR in medical billing can be difficult and time-consuming. We’ve defined the processes for integrating your EMR and medical billing to make the process easier.
1. The healthcare business must determine its patients’ needs, including their medical history, present ailments, and medications. And then select a compatible EMR that allows billing integration.
2. The organization must create a patient profile for each patient. This profile must have information about the patient’s demographics, treatment preferences, and billing information.
3. The healthcare organization creates and populates the medical records software with patient data. This must include capturing data such as medical images, test reports, prescriptions, etc.
4. The organization must also complete and bill medical services for patients, which includes documenting and tracking the date, time, and type of care service rendered.
5. Lastly, configure your medical billing systems to accept data from your EMR.
You may submit claims, issue invoices, and track payments once your billing systems are integrated with EMR. And you will also have access to patient records and notifications.
Conclusion
As technology advances, EMR systems will also evolve. And healthcare companies will always keep adding new technologies and features to satisfy the needs of patients and physicians. As access to the EMR system will make administration easier and patient care better, hospitals and healthcare experts proactively advocate for this. Now that you know integrating multiple systems into your primary EMR medical system can be time-consuming, the benefits will always outweigh the time and effort. So, there is no debate that with EMR integration, healthcare providers can dramatically improve operational efficiency and patient outcomes and even achieve set goals.
References
- https://www.intely.io/blog/a-complete-guide-to-get-you-up-and-running/
- https://www.businessintegrityservices.com/blog/what-is-emr-in-medical-billing
- https://www.mgsionline.com/blog/what-is-emr-in-medical-billing/
- https://insights.daffodilsw.com/blog/how-third-party-emr-integration-improves-patient-outcomes
- https://binariks.com/blog/how-to-integrate-ehr-in-medical-billing-solutions/
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About Author
Written by Riken Shah linkedin
Riken's work motto is to help healthcare providers use technological advancements to make healthcare easily accessible to all stakeholders, from providers to patients. Under his leadership and guidance, OSP Labs has successfully developed over 600 customized software solutions for 200+ healthcare clients across continents.