REPOST: Three ways EHR adoption can improve the patient experience

Electronic healthcare records (EHRs) are implemented by the most successful healthcare institutions in the country.  In an article for EHR intelligence, Pat Wolfram enumerates three ways the patient experience can be improved by adopting EHRs.

There are many key players integral to the patient experience. One specific triad of relationships that significantly affects the patient experience is the relationship between labs, practices, and electronic health records (EHRs).

While more than half of all doctors have adopted EHRs to improve workflow and enhance patient care, most orders for diagnostic tests are still made outside of the EHR, and many healthcare groups do not fully realize the benefits of connecting to multiple labs through the EHR. Connecting practices to all labs and radiology services with which they regularly work provides three significant benefits: better patient care, improved workflow, and easy access to data.

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Better patient care

Physicians rely on the EHR to simplify their day and allow them to focus on providing quality care for the patient they are seeing at the moment. The ability to order lab, diagnostic, and radiology tests through the EHR at the time of the patient exam ensures the tests are ordered accurately and any required information from the patient can be collected in person rather than requiring later follow up.

At the same time, an EHR that is connected to multiple labs and radiology centers and has access to their specific rules can generate information the provider needs to ensure a clean and complete order that will return results to the right patient chart. Automatically generated patient instructions for test preparation provide the educational information to properly prepare the patient for the test and avoid the need for a repeat test.

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Once the result is received, it is critical that the physician be able to communicate the result quickly and accurately to the patient. Unfortunately, the second most cited complaint about physicians in a recent Consumer Reports study was slow reporting of test results to the patient. Medical groups can address that concern by establishing lab connections that can send lab results to the patient electronically when they arrive.  Mobile access to the information enables physicians to retrieve results and speak with patients from any location thereby improving communications between physician and patient.

Improved workflow

Automating the process of applying routing rules and generating guidelines for completion of the order reduces the upfront staff time required to prepare the patient for a future test or draw blood for a panel of tests.  Different insurance companies often require specific labs to be used and each lab often requires different information be made available about the patient before the test can be ordered. By having these rules available and enabled electronically, there is a reduction in the number of orders submitted to the wrong lab or orders being submitted without sufficient patient information, ensuring accuracy in running the test and reporting the results.

Accurate orders also reduce the number of unsolicited results received by the practice. Errors in spelling of name, date of birth, and other areas delay filing of the results in the patient’s chart and require staff time to resolve.

From the patient’s perspective, less time waiting in the office for staff to provide lab locations and preparation instructions, and having results easily accessible for review, translates into a less stressful experience.

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Easy access to data

With patient-level data essential for identification of trends and development of best practices for population health management, the EHR fills a critical role by providing access to test results that document efficacy of treatment. Connection to multiple labs in a way that normalizes codes used by each lab to match codes used by the provider’s EHR enables physicians to see the complete picture of a patient’s response to treatment in one record. This holistic view of a single patient or a specific population leads to better informed treatment decisions and creation of population health strategies.

While there are significant benefits to automating communications between medical practices and labs, it is important to understand an EHR system’s capabilities to communicate with labs outside the practice. A few key questions to ask include:

• Does the EHR have its own result codes? Does it support industry standards such as LOINC?

• Does the EHR vendor provide result mapping services to normalize codes from multiple labs to fit the EHR requirements? How are result code maps maintained and updated?

• Does the physician have to select a lab before placing an order or does the EHR automatically route the order to the correct lab?

• Is medical necessity checked when the physician places the order to identify potential out-of-pocket costs for the patient?

• Does the EHR’s lab communication feature improve staff workflow by eliminating manual tasks?

• Will a cloud-based intermediary provide the enhanced functions to address a lack of functions within an existing EHR?

There is no doubt that EHRs and the ability to automate lab orders and results improve the patient experience and the quality of care. Healthcare organizations that optimize the EHR’s capability to communicate with multiple labs not only realize valuable efficiencies and enhance patient care but also improve the overall patient experience.

TSI Healthcare is among the leading implementers and training providers for topnotch technological solutions in healthcare.  TSI healthcare empowers its clients to upgrade medical technologies for better patient experience.  Visit the company website to learn more about the modernizing healthcare industry in the country.

Are incentives from electronic health records worth the cost and time?

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If healthcare providers started working for incentives in 2011, they would have acquired them as late as 2016. The qualification process, which may net as much as $63,750 for each professional, requires all practitioners to complete three steps over a period of at least five years.

Stage one is completed in the first three years of the program. It focuses on retrieving, saving, and sharing the pulled data. This includes digitizing all the relevant, previously handwritten or typewritten information. It may also include scanning certain charts, along with x-rays and laboratory tests.

Recording all patient history is not for the exclusive use of a single hospital; it will also send the same information to other related healthcare professionals upon request. Information exchange also occurs across specialists: cardiologists may be notified of their patients’ consultations with pulmonary specialists in neighboring health centers, and vice versa. Through this system, physicians will also be able to triangulate and coordinate prescriptions.

By stage two, these patient care summaries should not just be available to those who provide treatment; they must also be ready for patients upon their request. This requires practitioners to give e-prescriptions and integrate the latest laboratory results after patient visits.


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After two years, healthcare providers may move on to stage three. Here, they will be expected to run an efficient program with the use of EHRs. They must operate ‘population health management’ with stability, while continuing to grant patients access to their own information.

For healthcare providers, going digital comes with a hefty price. Funds are funneled toward software purchase and acclimatizing healthcare professionals to the environment of digital records and network systems. The process, which takes half a decade at the minimum to complete, may seem daunting for medical practitioners– all of whom are simultaneously attending to their patients. Though the added 'Meaningful Use' incentive encourages timely participation, some wonder if the tens of thousands of dollars in cost are worth the time.

In any case, digital records seem to be the next practical step and, in line with the generalized use of smartphones and tablets, a welcome catch-up strategy for the current system. Documenting progress throughout five years not only yields monetary gain, it also leaves healthcare providers with an abundance of data they can use to improve their service.


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TSI Healthcare is committed to easing physicians into the use of technology in their everyday work. This website provides more information about how this integration is achieved.

e-Patient Dave: The story of Dave deBronkart

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Dave deBronkart stands at the brim of e-patient-physician collaboration. Best known as e-Patient Dave, Dave is a full-time healthcare evangelist with the sole intention of helping physicians and e-patients forge a harmonious relationship through participatory medicine. It’s quite easy for him to familiarize himself with such a heavy calling because he himself has witnessed the criticality of information access and patient-doctor relationship to healthcare delivery and patient outcomes.


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In January 2007, Dave was diagnosed with stage 4 kidney cancer with a median survival time of roughly 24 weeks. His diagnosis looked grim and it appeared that only a miracle could help him survive. Fortunately, miracle wasn’t hard to find in the case of the healthcare activist. His primary physician invited him to the annual retreat of the e-Patient Scholars Working Group founded by the late Tom Ferguson MD, a true visionary in participatory medicine. The event introduced Dave to an online cancer-related community in which other cancer patients share stories of hope and survival. The online community gave him contact information of physicians offering high-dosage interleukin treatment which eventually helped him beat the cancer. Since then, he has become active in sharing the story of how he and his doctor collaborated to fight off his terminal disease.


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Today, e-Patient Dave tours the world as a keynote speaker, giving lectures on how information access and patient-physician relationship determine care delivery. With each talk, he makes sure that the “e” in the term e-patient is understood beyond its common notion as “electronic” but also as “empowered, engaged, equipped, and enabled” – the descriptors that Ferguson sought to instil in the medical community.

TSI Healthcare shares the same goal as e-Patient Dave. Visit this website to learn about patient empowerment and digital healthcare.

Digital doctors: More medical experts ditch paper for electronic health records

The electronic health records (EHRs) are gaining popularity as more than half of U.S. doctors are now switching to the new record-keeping system.

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This is according to the Wall Street Journal, which based its report on a data from the Department of Health and Human Services. The shift to EHR is an expected turn of events, considering that HHS has both promised federal incentives for medical professionals who use the new system and penalization for those who refuse to adopt it by 2015. About 291,325 doctors, 3,880 hospitals, and other office-based providers that are eligible for incentives in exchange for adopting EHR have received payments. Doctors, in particular, have received around $5.9 billion while $8.7 billion has gone to hospitals.

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The EHR system contains patients' records and doctors’ prescriptions. They are also designed to make recommendations when orders are made, like a possible allergic reaction to a drug.

But while most doctors have anticipated that the new technology can make medical care safer and more efficient, some have remained unenthusiastic of the change. Being used to the “old ways” of record-keeping, these reluctant doctors say that encoding information into their computer while talking with patients requires more attention than note taking. Others also cite the seemingly limited space for family history and other important parts of a patient's medical record. A few doctors also have privacy concerns and some others complain about receiving unnecessary warning alerts. To these “awkward” grievances, HHS National Coordinator for Health Information Technology Farzad Mostashari has few lines to say: “Please, be patient with your physician as they transition to this. The ‘under construction, pardon our appearance’ sign—that’s the phase we’re in.”

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The digital doctors might be having some hard time adopting to the EHR system but in time, they’ll eventually learn. The HHS is hopeful about that. The doctors, meanwhile, have five years to cope.

 
TSI Healthcare has a team of experts that can help doctors switch to electronic health record system easily. Visit this website to learn how EHR works.

Nursing shortage in senior homes: Where else can you find care?

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The shortage of nursing aides in recent years is a serious issue for aging America.


The aging population is expected to double to 81 million in the next 30 years, and senior homes and hospitals alike have been making full use of their subscribed patient-to-nurse ratio, which puts the remaining nursing assistants in a challenging position to provide round-the-clock quality care to far too many patients. The condition couldn’t get any worse as high turnover rates, low wages, and unpleasant work environments only exasperate the staffing shortage, according to an article from the Wall Street Journal.

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But despite the shortage in nursing aides, you can still find quality care for your elderly parents. You can try for smaller assisted-living facilities known as board-and-care homes with fewer residents and, probably, more caretakers. Board-and-care homes are a great option as senior homes with best reputation often have long waiting lists, says Bunni Dybnis, a fellow at the National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers. Hiring an in-home nursing aide is also an option but the price can be steep, costing around $250 per day. But if it’s your only option, you can search for agencies or look online for a list of potential nursing aides. Do a background check to make sure that the potential nursing aide can really provide quality care for your loved ones.

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These options could just be transitory. The best long-term solution is to address the staffing shortage on a national level. This means improving work conditions, utilization of healthcare IT, compensation, and other factors that affect job satisfaction among nurses or nursing assistants. After all, nurses are the linchpins in providing top quality care for all.

TSI Healthcare is sought by many healthcare practices for its specialty-specific IT solutions. Learn more about its products by visiting this website.

The quantified self: Does body-tracking make a person healthier?

Science has determined a number of things about the human body over the centuries. Coupled with technological advancement, machinery today is at a point where it can safely examine and operate on the human body more accurately than an actual human being can. Now that solutions are available for most diseases and physical challenges, focus is shifting to preventing them.

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On top of getting a regular dose of ailment-specific vaccines, it is generally accepted that the best way to avoid illnesses is to remain healthy. Aiming to promote this, America has seen over a decade’s worth of diet and exercise fads, all of which require some amount of arithmetic. Those watching their weight engage in a grueling task of calorie counting, while runners and exercise buffs who wish to track their progress time laps on their watches then sync with tracking apps on the Internet.

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The latest in technology for healthy living, The Quantified Self is a movement that incorporates data acquisition into the aspects of one’s everyday life. Tracking duration, pace, calories burnt and eaten, and other factors, this method aims to help users determine which of their routine activities are in accordance with their health goals versus those which exacerbate their weight problem.

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Because the movement is new, it is still unclear whether access to detailed information about their body gives people lasting motivation to keep it healthy. However, one consolation would be that body-tracking exposes when a person is getting weak and prone to injuries or sudden ailments like cardiac arrest and stroke, thus making it useful for those in these dire situations.

It is essential for some doctors to tracking a patient’s condition and progress. Having developed systematic tracking and record-keeping applications, TSI Healthcare helps doctors deliver full-time care. Read more about the company’s products on this website.

Patient care and privacy

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Children select a playmate they call their “best friend,” a person whom they share snacks, toys, and troublemaking ideas with because he or she likes the same things. Growing up, adults maintain a similar relationship on a personal level, and sometimes in their office spaces. Ideally, only a best friend is aware of the most intimate information about a person. Unknowingly, adults actually maintain a “best friend” type of relationship with one other professional: their doctor.




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Doctor-patient confidentiality is a legal practice that binds a physician to his patient. Under this concept, a doctor cannot reveal the details of his discussions with patients or test results to anyone other than the patient. Specifically, this prevents the doctor from providing information to law enforcement, and ensures that any information obtained during consultations cannot be used against the patient in the court of law. Originally designed to protect the patient’s rights, the confidentiality law has sometimes impeded legal proceedings. Only underage patients are exempt from this privilege, as doctors are required by law to inform parents of any life-threatening illnesses an underage patient might have, and are likewise required to obtain the parents’ permission before administering most types of treatment.




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Recently, the Health and Human Services has strengthened patient privacy protection by expanding individual rights and limiting federal capacities. Under the new rules, doctors now must assume the “worst case scenario” for any incident involving confidentiality breach and report it immediately, even before notifying the patient or the patient’s parents.


For utmost doctor-patient privacy protection, TSI Healthcare maintains Electronic Health Records. See the developments on this website.