Pages

Wednesday 27 April 2011

Electronic Health Records (ehr) – The Ultimate Challenges

Computers have become a part of our day to day life; more and more manual processes are getting computerized including the implementation of electronic health records (ehr) systems. However, nothing comes without a price – the newer trend of digitization of medical records has come with a number of worries and concerns.

Currently “privacy protection” is the biggest threat that electronic health records (ehr) systems are facing. With manual system, the medical history was stored individually by various doctors and hospitals ensuring it to be accessed by only respective authorities. However, digitization of medical records has made it possible to store the data centrally that can be accessed by any authorized medical professional and hospital at any point of time.

The other concerns associated with the implementation of electronic health records (ehr) are as follows:

High Implementation Cost

Need for Training on Using the System

The System Should Be In Line With HIPAA Guidelines

Meaningful Use of EHR

Gradually, electronic health record (ehr) system is gaining momentum. More and more doctors and hospitals are embracing it, and depending on the part of the country you are looking at, conversion could be as high as 40%. With government involvement and the amount of resources it is investing, the time will come when digital medical record keeping will be the norm.

--

Tuesday 26 April 2011

Benefits of Electronic Health Records (EHR)

 
An electronic health record (ehr) is a gift of information technology for “IT” has become an indispensable part of our day to day life. “IT” has made it possible to simply our lives; make our work easier and more accurate. To be a part of the trend healthcare industry is going on under rapid transformation. The industry is on its way to do away with the pen and paper system. The industry is very serious and is catching upon the trend of implementing healthcare IT systems like electronic health records (ehr).

Healthcare management is a complex process it starts with the patient visiting the doctor, registration, recording patient medical history, lab reports, allergies, treatment, claims submission, reimbursement and so on. The manual process of recording the medical history is very time consuming and often results into a no. of errors. At times it may also result into time delays when the medical history of the patient is required under emergency situations. Electronic health records (ehr) promises to do away with the flaws of the present manual medical records system.

An electronic health record (ehr) is a process of digitization of the medical records or medical history of the patients. The information is stored digitally with the help of computers and software. The whole process is scientific in nature; the information is stored in a systematic manner. The software provides with a no. of functionality that can be utilized to process the data into some meaningful information, which can be used for effective diagnosis and treatment.

The electronic health record (ehr) enjoys a no. of benefits as against the old pen & paper system:

Accurate Documentation

Scientific Storage of Data

Time Saving

Reduction in Administrative Costs

Improvement in the Quality of Service

Increased Patient Safety

Reduced malpractice insurance premiums

Just like any new approach to doing things, Electronic Health Records (EHR) has its own advantages and disadvantages. However, it for us to “weigh” as to which side is heavier and to go accordingly with it. 

--

Friday 1 April 2011

How to Speed Up Medical Claims Processing?

 
Healthcare costs all over the world is rising & so is the need for medical insurance. The warren of complex claim forms as well as insurance policy procedures all over the world besieges even the doctors. The claims submission, approval and reimbursement is a time consuming process. Healthcare professionals and hospitals need to concentrate on the quality of patient care, however, it is believed that a majority of their time resources is spent in handing the insurance claims processing. Information technology or healthcare IT is bringing about drastic change in the situation. Healthcare systems like claims processing system is giving a new lease of life to the healthcare industry. 

Manual claims processing involves a large no. of steps and also errors in the work can not be denied. In fact, errors can not be denied even in the computerized work, however, errors can be minimized. Implementation of claims processing system have changed the way claims processing was handled at medical professionals clinic or a hospital. A no. of claims processing steps can be automated and the time resources spent can be reduced to a great extent. 

An advanced claims processing system provides with a no. of advantages to both healthcare professionals as well as patients. The biggest advantage observed is that it provides with the capability of checking claims eligibility beforehand, thus avoiding denial at a later stage of treatment. Once the patient is eligible, the claim can be submitted with minimal data input and claims status can be checked. In case of errors, the claim is not submitted and automatically its denied by the system. The errors can be corrected at the point of submission itself, thus avoiding the delay that could have caused due to denial of the form.

In case of special eligibility criteria, form resubmission the manual process is very complicated and time consuming. However, with the implementation of an advanced claims processing system the over all process of claims processing can be streamlined. It helps to cut down the total time required for reimbursement and also to cut down the cost of managing the claims drastically. Its a win-win situation for both healthcare professionals as well as patients.