FOR CLINICIAN
What should I know about the Before Patient Experience (before the patient comes in)?
Once the patient is with the clinician, we consider this ‘the during’ patient experience which includes the treatment and the experience that the patient has at the clinic during their visit.
The traditional before practice workflow most clinics uses vs the streamlined process can be compared as follows:
- The front desk asks the patient to complete some paper forms, calls the insurance company to verify coverage and enters information manually to the EMR software vs. front desk checking eligibility online and using the results to automatically create a patient record as seen in In Touch Biller Pro.
Advantages – This process saves front desk time and minimizes costly typo mistakes, it only takes about 30 seconds for front desk to verify insurance and create patient record compared with the traditional way that might take more than 5 minutes.
Streamlining patient intake is about streamlining the capturing of all patient documentation. The goal is to allow clinicians to focus on the patient and not spend time getting information from patients.
What should I know about the During Patient Experience (when the patient comes in)?
The importance of the ‘during’ patient experience cannot be overstated. The clinician should always humanize the experience by making eye contact, making the patient feel comfortable and happy. Having a positive interaction with patients is the key to get them to send you referrals. A clinician can build a reputation based on how the patients perceives them to be and the actual experience they have at the clinic.
The ‘during’ patient experience has two important components; systems and people.
To allow the clinician to spend more time with the patient instead of clicking buttons on a screen and completing documentation, In Touch EMR has built-in tools for:
- Voice recognition software in your device is compatible with In Touch EMR, allowing you to dictate notes instead of typing.
- Easily customizable templates that allow you to document your patients, your way.
- Dynamic goal box feature accessible at any point in the subjective-objective flowsheet. This allows you to add any goals along the way without having to wait until you get to the end of your plan of care.
In Touch EMR allows the clinician to focus on the core component on what an ideal practice should be during the ‘during’ patient experience. This can save the clinician at least 5 minutes per patient with the built-in workflows and processes.
What should I know about the After Patient Experience (after the patient leaves the clinic)?
The ‘after’ patient experience includes marketing and billing.
Traditional billing processes are complicated, tedious and prone to human error. Software automation can eliminate many tedious tasks that the biller does, allowing your practice to get paid more, faster.
Here is a comparison between traditional billing process and how In Touch Biller Pro streamlines billing.
Normally, the biller manually checks codes and modifiers.
With In Touch Biller Pro, the automatic scrubber can check the claim before it gets submitted. This ‘claim cleansor’ checks the claim against national standards like ICD and CPT codes crosswalk.
- Normally, the biller manually post ERAs to the patient records.
With In Touch Biller Pro, the billing software is completely integrated with the clearinghouse. This allows the ERA to get automatically posted to the patient record with one click. - Normally, the biller manually batches claims and sends them out 2 – 3 times a week.
With In Touch Biller Pro, the system automatically batches and submits claims to the insurance company at the end of the day. - Normally, the front desk calls / emails the patients to stay in touch.
With In Touch EMR, the patient automatically receives text / phone appointment reminders. The patient also receives automated emailed newsletters.
A streamlined and automated process makes things simpler and less complicated for the biller. This will save the biller time and effort that could be spent on more important tasks.
These features in In Touch Biller Pro not only save you money in billable hours but also helps in increasing your revenue by facilitating cash flow, and reducing the denial rate. We help you get paid more, faster.
Is your EMR a jumbled mess of screens?
Learn about what to look for in an EMR system. No one likes to look at a puzzle of multiple screens when documenting their patients.
You need an EMR system that allows you to document your way, in an efficient manner and in a short amount of time without getting lost while performing multiple tasks at one time.
It is important to have your EMR system adapt to you; you shouldn’t have to adapt to the system.
A common problem with EMRs in the market for rehab professionals is that it is a jumbled mess of screens. When an EMR tries to do several things at once; like patient management, billing and EMR, it becomes a jumbled mess.
As a clinician, you would want to focus on what you do best. You want to do documentation quickly and efficiently with a system that prompts and adapts to your needs.
Most EMRs try to do a lot of functions at the same time that it prevents the rehab professionals from being effective and efficient.
A clinician should have a billing system that takes care of billing and is fully integrated with a clearinghouse. It should also have a scheduling feature as it is the appointment that drives biling.
Your EMR should be work hand in hand with the billing software and help you document patients, customize templates, give you alerts for codes to keep you compliant.
This is the reason why In Touch EMR and In Touch Biller Pro are distinct and separate yet fully integrated.
What are the FIVE best ways to speed up patient documentation?
There are steps to streamline your practice so you can document faster and more efficiently and yet establish medical necessity and remain compliant:
- Voice recognition allows you to use your voice to document faster
- Automated sentences where you can take the common phrases as hot keys
- Dynamic goal boxes that allows the clinician to add goals at any point in the flowsheet, it automatically appears in the goal plan
- Customized templates as In Touch EMR allows you to personalize your templates to needed
- CPT codes in the flowsheets will automatically update on your billing tab, billing will take CPT codes from the flowsheet and plan of care to create a claim. Supporting documentation is compliant and establishes medical necessity.
This increases efficiency, allows the clinician to spend more time with the patient rather than on completing documentation.
What is the difference between EMR and EHR?
An EMR, also known as Electronic Medical Record, is a digital version of the patient’s medical records.
It includes medical records, scanned copies of the patient’s reports and other information collected by the clinician. It is maintained by one entity.
An EHR, Electronic Health Record, is an aggregate medical information that is maintained and share by multiple entities. This is shared, web based information about the patient.
What are the THREE stages for the successful implementation of an EMR system?
The three stage for successfully implementing an EMR system are:
- Assess the advantages of an EMR system for your practice
Determine if it can save time and money over paper records
Ascertain if it is portable and mobile so it is accessible from any computer - Consider the cost of an EMR software
Research all the costs – outright and hidden
Examine the savings for your practice compared to your current solution
Identify avenues for increased profitability and efficiency for your practice - The implementation of the EMR system in your practice
One patient as a time or in a phased manner
Transfer of data from our previous EMR solution
Enrollment for electronic claims, ERAs with a new clearing house
What is the FIRST step towards the successful implementation of an EMR system?
The first step towards successfully implementing an EMR system is scanning the medical records of patients.
Once a record is scanned and uploaded to the EMR system, make sure the paper version is either stored securely or shredded in order to maintain HIPAA compliance.
The scanned record should be in a read-only format and cannot be used for data interpretation.
How does one go about streamlining practice workflow, and improving efficiency with an EMR system?
An ideal EMR system should have three things:
- It should be simple and easy for the staff to use in order to cut down on time both in the training stage as well as during system use.
- It should make patient intake and processing a highly streamlined process. For instance, In Touch EMR allows patients to complete their own intake process in their patient portal.
- It should integrate with scheduling and billing. It should also help the clinic stay in touch with patients using a marketing module to follow up consistently with patients and physicians, helping to generate referrals.
As a practice owner / clinician, what should I look for in an integrated EMR?
The ideal EMR solution should be fully integrated with scheduling, documentation and billing so a clinician can schedule and document how patients are doing.
Here’s an example of an ideal workflow:
- eligibility verification is performed online, not via time-consuming phone calls.
- once verified, the patient is scheduled with as few clicks as possible.
- patient record is created and ready for their appointment before the patient even sees the clinician.
- since the patient is already in the system, the clinician can go begin documenting immediately, focusing on patient care and not on being a note machine. Afterwards, billing can be generated right after the session and can then be reviewed by the biller before it is submitted to the payer
Using just one system for all the different aspects of a practice workflow streamlines the process and promotes efficiency.
What do I need to know about functional limitation reporting in my EMR system?
If you are seeing Medicare patients, you now need to be able to report on functional limitation codes on the initial evaluation, at minimum every 10th visit and at discharge with your Medicare patients.
Failing to do so will mean not getting paid for that visit.
You need an EMR software which alerts you to be able to do this.
Once the right measure is selected, the EMR should transmit the current and the goal codes over in the claim form.
The EMR should also provide supporting documentation fields such as:
- clinical judgment
- outcome measures
- patient’s prior level of function
- what patient tells you, patient report
- selection of the severity modifiers for the current and the goal, and goal and discharge.
What is the difference between web-based vs server based EMR systems?
A web based system can be accessed from any device connected to the internet.
Cloud based systems have automatic back-ups, and automatic upgrades. These systems are more versatile and portable.
Server based systems are slowly being replaced by web based systems since server systems require you to back up your data manually.
In Touch Biller Pro and In Touch EMR are cloud based systems that are easier and more convenient to use than your current solution.
How can I make my life easier and simpler with an EMR system?
There are lots of misconceptions and doubts about the use of EMRs.
EMRs, when implemented correctly, will make the clinician’s life easier.
An ideal EMR should help with the following:
- scheduling patients as soon as they come in, including online eligibility
- patient record is then created for the clinician to perform their documentation.
- patient data should go over to the billing component seamlessly
An ideal EMR should simplify the front office component (scheduling, patient intake), the clinician documentation component (SOAP notes) and the notes (the ICD and CPT codes) should trigger a claim for billing so the biller can send it to the insurance companies.
How can I make sure that my documentation is easy to customize, and is unique to my needs?
Most templates provided by most EMR companies are extremely detailed- so much so that it forces the clinician to become a data entry expert instead of a clinician.
In Touch EMR gives you the flexibility to customize your own template.
Ready to go templates will make life harder for you if you get audited.
Every practice is different and templates that works for others might be suitable for you.
However, you should always be able to customize your documentation to your specific practice needs. Your documentation should always be compliant, comprehensive yet minimal to support what you’re doing and for billing purposes, but still maintaining great customer support.
In Touch EMR gives the clinician simple, effective templates that can be fully customized, and also allows them to create their own documentation templates from scratch.
How do I tackle the problem of 'Documentation Overkill' (the problem with most EMR systems)
It is common for EMR systems to have very long and comprehensive documentation templates.
It takes far too much time for the physical therapist to finish the documentation.
Documentation does not have to be a lengthy process, you can do just enough for it to be still complete and compliant.
In Touch EMR allows you the flexibility when it comes to documentation, a simple and effective way.
Templates in In Touch EMR are fully customizable as it adapts to the user and not the other way around like in other EMR systems.
How should voice recognition work in my EMR?
New computers have voice recognition capabilities which can be used with EMR systems to make documentation faster and easier.
With In Touch EMR, the clinician can use this software to minimize typing in data or information and save time in documentation.
This can also be used on iPad and other Android devices.
What is Ideal Practice Workflow (Documentation) for the Clinician?
Once the patient record is created in the billing software, it should automatically appear in your EMR software like it does in In Touch EMR.
The clinician can then start documenting notes for the patient.
Documents added by the clinician go directly to the billing software once he/she is done for the claims process.
The streamlined workflow from front desk to clinician to biller shortens the revenue cycle considerably and maximizes revenue for the clinic.
What are the common mistakes that I should avoid with my EMR system?
Here are mistakes that should be avoided in your EMR software:
- Lack of integration with your billing software
- EMR does not allow clinician to create and customize their own templates
- It does not use technologies like voice recognition that can save time in documentation
- It does not support mobile devices like iPad and Android tablets for mobility and flexibility
- It has sneaky add-on fees and charges that will make it more expensive
In Touch EMR has all these capabilities and does not have any hidden costs.
Should my EMR program also do marketing and help with referral generation?
In Touch EMR uses the patient demographic information to communicate regularly with patients.
This is done by using their mailing address, mobile numbers, email addresses and landline numbers.
These modes of communication can be automated in In Touch EMR with a simple click of a button.
In Touch EMR uses these mechanisms to make your EMR into an automated marketing tool.