Last Updated | September 5, 2023
While in the past, mental health was considered a stigma by people and governments. Today, mental health or behavioral health is considered an essential component of overall health and well-being. Today governments and relevant authorities are taking practical steps to raise awareness about behavioral health by encouraging patients to seek professional assistance and by investing in mental healthcare technology.
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Here in this blog, we will be looking at how EHR software for mental health enables healthcare practitioners to improve the quality of practices. We will also be looking at some of the best EHR software for mental health available on market.
So, let’s get started…
What’s Behavioral Health Electronic Health Record (EHR) and its Benefits?
Mental health EHR brings in powerful tools and automated features to assist healthcare practitioners to streamline their operations and improve patient care quality. Given the various benefits of the best EHR software for mental health, many healthcare institutions are investing to hire medical app developers to customize EHR software as per their needs. Some of the key benefits of implementing behavioral health EHR software include:
– Enhanced prescribing
With specialty behavior health EHR software, healthcare practitioners can access the exclusive list of prescriptions that are intended to treat core conditions associated with mental healthcare. With automated prescription features available in specialty EHR software, practitioners simplify the process of medication prescription.
– Supports care coordination
A key benefit of specialist mental health EHR software is its ability to allow practitioners to coordinate and share medical conditions with other healthcare providers and general physicians. This greatly improves the overall quality of patient care by devising the best consultative treatment plan.
– Increased efficiency
EHR software enables practitioners to access and retrieve patients’ data, as and when required. The specialist IoT healthcare solutions also offer automated scheduling, appointment, charting, and digital patient consultation. All of these features significantly improve the efficiency of the practice, while lowering the administrative burden on practitioners and staff members.
– Integrated billing
Handling financial procedures is often one of the most intensive and complex tasks, especially for small practices with no specialized accounting function. With a dedicated mental health EHR system, it is now possible for healthcare institutions and individual practitioners to automate billing and other key accounting and financial tasks. The integrated billion feature offered by various specialist EHR systems also handles insurance verification and claims. Thus, stabilizing the financial aspects of the practice.
– Accurate data
Specialist EHR software for mental health practice also improves the integrity and accuracy of the data for practitioners. The software enables automated storing, sorting, and updating of patients’ data. The data is also readily accessible for practitioners, which allows them to review the medical history of patients and subsequently come up with the best treatment plan. Also, with the help of the integration of your medical device, you will get the accurate data you need.
List of best EHR Software for mental health and how they assist in improving the mental health care
Below are some of the best EHR software for mental health widely used by practitioners in the USA and globally:
- Kareo Clinical EHR Software
Kareo Clinical EHR system is a specialty cloud-based electronic health record software and also the best EHR software for mental health that offers Practice Management (PM) solutions for practitioners. The software comes with various specialty tools and features for handling mental healthcare practice requirements. Some of the features offered by Kareo Clinical EHR Software include, treatment plan, appointment scheduling, and e-prescribing. The software is highly regarded in the industry for all practice sizes and offers around 50 customizable behavioral health templates. The system also comes with the Alert Feature for better Patient Safety.
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- PIMSY EHR Software
PIMSY is another specialty mental health EHR system integrated with Practice Management (PM) system. The software is specifically designed to handle mental health and substance abuse, practitioners. Some of the worth mentioning features of the system includes patient check-in functionality, customizable templates, billing, and appointment & scheduling. PIMSY is a HIPAA-compliant platform, which also offers HR management tools including intensive outpatient (IOP) and mobile apps.
- TheraNest Mental Health Software
TheraNest offers robust cloud-based solutions for mental health practitioners. The software is integrated with Practice Management (OM) system with various automated tools including; a patients’ portal, billing tools, therapy notes, scheduling, and telehealth solutions.
- TherapyNotes EHR Software
TherapyNotes is an Allscripts EHR integration software that comes with Practice Management (PM) feature and offers various specialty mental health tools including billing features, a patient portal, and appointment scheduling. The system also offers financial solutions including billing, insurance, and claims submission. Some specialty tools for mental health providers include psychological evaluations, progress notes, and treatment plans.
Exclusive EHR Software Program for Mental Healthcare
- Valant EHR Suite
Valant is a specialty behavioral health EHR system that enables practitioners to streamline documentation and improve efficiency in their practice. As one of the best EHR software for mental health practices, Valant is a fully integrated system that comes with robust automation tools including, documentation, telehealth, patient records, practice management, billing, and patient engagement tools.
As one of the best EHR software for mental health, Valant offers a library of outcome measures for practitioners, assisting them to track over time. Using exclusive tools offered by Valant, patients can complete the assessments from home either through the patient portal or in session with the practitioners.
The software also sends automated notifications to patients for missed appointments or send alerts for upcoming payment expiry. The versatile scheduling feature of the software enables practitioners to arrange individual or group appointments.
- AdvancedMD EHR
AdvancedMD is one of the best EHR software for mental health practices that comes with a powerful and integrated suite of software solutions developed specifically for behavioral health, medical imaging software, and physical therapy for individual practitioners or healthcare organizations.
Some of the worth-mentioning features of the AdvancedMD suite include patient engagement tools, reputation management, medical billing, EHR records, practice management, telemedicine functionality, financial analytics, patient charts, and business intelligence reporting.
The integrated workflow process offered by the system automates the entire patient’s journey for improved efficiency and a better healthcare experience. The software generates auto text and email alerts for appointments. The financial tools offered by the system allow for faster and more consistent insurance eligibility verifications and other accounting and billing information.
Pros and Cons of using EHR software for mental health care
All EHR systems including some of the best EHR software for mental health come with their strengths and limitations. Below we will be looking at some of the most common pros and cons of EHR implementation for mental health practitioners.
Pros
Some of the major benefits of using an EHR system for mental healthcare practice include;
– Care Coordination
By implementing mental healthcare EHR, practitioners can closely collaborate with other healthcare specialists.
With an EHR system like Cerner hl7 integration, practitioners can access the medical records of the patients in real-time, making it easier to diagnose and prescribe medication; thus improving the overall quality of patient healthcare.
– Improved Prescribing
EHR tools greatly improve the prescription process for mental healthcare practitioners. By accessing the medical records of the patients the system can suggest the best prescription options for the patients. This greatly improves the prescription medication process, while also enabling practitioners to stay updated with the newer medications available for various mental health conditions.
– Better Medication Management
Lastly, by using EHR for mental healthcare, practitioners can closely track medication prescriptions in real time for patients. This exclusive feature enables practitioners to avoid double doctoring and minimize the risks of prescription errors.
Cons
While the EHR pros greatly outweigh the limitations of the system, there are certain cons of EHR implementation that you need to know, including:
– Cybersecurity Threats
Since most EHR systems used in the mental healthcare industry are cloud-based, they are always vulnerable to cybersecurity threats. To add up to the misery, any breach of privacy or loss of medical data can cost dearly in terms of administrative and financial penalties for practitioners.
Thereby, it’s imperative to implement, manage and maintain stringent security protocols to protect sensitive medical records from cybersecurity threats.
– Lack of timely updates
While this concern isn’t faced by most cloud-based EHR systems, practitioners with onsite EHR systems are always vulnerable to missing out on critical EHR system updates. Thereby, practitioners and healthcare institutes with onsite mental health behavioral systems need to put up dedicated resources to ensure timely updates of the system to the latest versions.
How to choose the best EHR Software for an Organization?
One common mistake made by most individual practitioners and healthcare organizations while choosing an EHR is to ignore the concerns of staff members. Listening to the concerns of staff members is important since, eventually they will be the frontline forces to handle administrative tasks, treatment, and patient care.
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So, before you finalize the new EHR system for your practice, it’s important to understand the concerns of your team members and address them accordingly. Make sure you know the key functionalities required by the staff and how a specific EHR will assist them to improve the accuracy and efficiency of the practice.
Do you want to know about billing software integrated with EHR for Mental Healthcare?
FAQs:
List a few tips on how to get started with this software.
The key to getting started with the best EHR software for mental health is to understand all the core features of the system with its applicability and use cases. The best way out is to choose an EHR system vendor that offers customized dedicated training for management and staff. This will ensure all people are on a single page and can utilize the system to the best of their abilities.
Is EHR software an essential tool for any mental health professional?
Yes. In today’s fast-paced healthcare industry, individual practitioners and healthcare organizations must implement a robust and automated EHR software system that streamlines daily workflows, while improving the efficiency and productivity of the practice including, enhanced data accessibility, improved efficiency, improved charge capture, and improved healthcare delivery.
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