Last Updated | September 29, 2022
Executive Summary: Best EMR for Psychiatrists
When you are looking for best EMR for psychiatrists, make sure the system comes with dedicated features and functions to support your practice and help improve healthcare quality for patients.
Introduction: Best EMR for Psychiatrists
The Electronic Medical Record system (EMR) has become necessary for all sorts of healthcare practices. The automated tools and features offered by the EMR system relieve practitioners of various administrative and financial functions while also enabling them easy access to patients’ health records and collaboration with other practitioners. Overall, EMR systems are meant to improve healthcare quality for patients significantly.
Just like various other medical practices, psychiatric practitioners have started to integrate EMR systems to streamline practice and improve the quality of patient care. Many psychiatric practitioners are looking for the best EMR software for psychiatrists that offers them the right tools and features to enhance their practices.
The availability of dedicated behavioral health software means psychiatrists are able to arm themselves with the right tools and features to access patients’ complete medical records with a single click. Similarly, such psychiatry EMR software enables practitioners to improve the diagnosis by collaborating with peers and sharing data through Allscripts EMR integration.
Well, in this blog, we will exclusively be looking at some of the top benefits of best EMR for psychiatrists. We will also be looking at the features offered by the best EMR for psychiatrists and why hiring medical app developers or experienced medical device integration companies can help psychiatric practitioners to choose the best EMR software.
So, without wasting any more time, let’s get started…
What Is Mental Health EMR?
In the simplest words, EMR or Electronic Medical Records are the digital representation of clinical records. Just like any other digitalized service, EMR enables healthcare practitioners to deal with hundreds and thousands of medical records easily and accurately. The software enables practitioners to save and retrieve all relevant information from the system to improve patient healthcare quality.
However, not all EMR solutions are made equal.
While at the baseline, EMR software enables the digitalization of physical medical records, the features and functions offered by each system vary greatly. A simple look over the internet for mental health EMR vendors will reveal that there are dozens of software available on the market, each with unique features and functionalities.
When it comes to EMR systems for psychiatrists, these are specialized systems that are developed to meet the specific needs of psychiatric practitioners (More on the specific features of psychiatric EMR will be discussed in the sections below). Nonetheless, a dedicated psychiatric EMR system will help mental health practitioners significantly improve their practice by leveraging various automated features of the system.
What are the Important Features of Any Psychiatric EMR System?
As mentioned above, not all EMR are created equal, and the rise of technology means that dedicated systems are available to meet individual practice’s unique needs. For instance, in some practices, practitioners prefer to have Cerner HL7 integration for better communication and data sharing with peers.
Below are some of the important features which any psychiatric EMR system must have:
- Online Patient Portal
The online patient portal is an important feature of any EMR system that enable patients to:
- Manage bookings
- Access medical records securely
- Schedule appointments
- Access diagnostic results
- Communicate with their practitioners remotely via a secure channel
- Pay online bills
And more…
- Healthcare CRM
Some of the best EMR software for psychiatrists also comes with robust and dedicated healthcare CRM capabilities.
This enables practitioners to record the entire communication and interaction with patients, which then is readily available for reference at any time. For instance, with a healthcare CRM system, the hospital staff will be able to retrieve crucial patient information (let’s say the name of the practitioner who examined them last time) to schedule the next appointment and much more.
Some of the other benefits of the healthcare CRM system include:
- Personalization of marketing communication: this feature enables healthcare practitioners and hospitals to design and execute targeted marketing campaigns for patients who have previously availed of healthcare services at the clinic and offer them some incentive to revisit the clinic (for instance, discount or free consultation).
- Get Access to Key Analytics: Healthcare CRM systems also enable practitioners and hospitals to access critical analytics data about the various acquisition channels, as well as the most popular services for patients of certain demography, etc. This, in turn, can be used to refine marketing campaigns and improve patient acquisition.
- Marketing Automation: Healthcare CRM also enables healthcare institutes to automate marketing campaigns like sending auto reminders for appointments, creating alerts for upcoming consultations, sending discount updates, etc.
- Hosted on the Cloud
At present, you may find various types of EMR systems available in the market, including;
- Physician Hosted
- Subsidized
- Dedicated Server Hosted
- Cloud Hosted
Out of the lot, we highly recommend going with a cloud-hosted EMR system since it comes with various benefits, including;
- Cloud-hosted systems are generally much more affordable compared to other types of EMR systems
- There are no upfront costs for cloud-based systems (for on-site systems, the upfront costs may be in thousands of dollars)
- It’s easier and faster to get started with cloud-based EMR systems
- These systems come with robust security protocols, whereas they also receive periodic security patches to ensure data safety and protection from vendors. Thereby, you don’t have to spend money and resources to ensure the safety and protection of sensitive medical records.
- Dedicated Features for Psychiatry
Another key aspect to consider when choosing any EMR system for psychiatric practice is to look out for dedicated features for the practice. Some of the features which you should look out for include;
- AUDIT for alcohol use disorders
- GAD for anxiety
- SADQ for alcohol dependence
- ASRS for ADHD assessment
- PHQ-9 for depression
And more.
5 benefits of Best EMR for psychiatrists
Ok, now that we know some of the crucial features to look out for in specialized EMR systems for psychiatrists, let’s explore some of the top benefits of the system for the practitioners.
- Care Coordination
A psychiatric EMR system acts much like an IoT healthcare solution that enables practitioners to coordinate and collaborate with peers for better patient healthcare quality.
Practitioners can access, modify, and save patients’ health records through the EMR system, which ensures that they stay updated on various treatments offered by peers for treatment of a specific symptom.
- Improved Prescribing
EMR systems also assist mental health practitioners in improving their prescriptions for specific conditions. The system allows practitioners to access the data from MC; based on the patient’s diagnosis and recommend the best possible prescription for treatment.
This feature greatly simplified the prescription process for mental health practitioners while also assisting them in staying updated with all the latest developments in the medication available for a specific condition.
- Improved Medication Management
Behavioral health software can also help psychiatric practitioners track medical prescriptions for patients in real-time. This is a crucial feature that allows practitioners to avoid double doctoring and reduce any prescription errors.
- Data Accessibility
One of the most significant benefits of the EMR system is that it allows practitioners to access vital medical records anywhere and anytime.
During medical practice, practitioners may have to access sensitive medical records for patients at a moment’s notice for various reasons. In such cases, the EMR system enables them to readily access the complete medical history of patients to respond to any medical emergency.
- Enhanced Clinic Efficiency
At the end of the day, the EMR system allows practitioners to keep their focus on one single thing; improving the overall quality of patient care.
With the right EMR system, psychiatrists can;
- Digitize patients’ intake through online forms
- Access complete medical records of patients in a single click
- Collaborate with peers for better diagnosis and treatment
- Keep track of invoices and billing
How does Folio3 help you to select the best EMR for Psychiatry?
With all the different types of psychiatric EMR available on the market, choosing the best EMR software for psychiatrists may be intimidating for practitioners. As mentioned in the sections above, not all EMRs are created equal, and even dedicated EMRs for psychiatrists come with varying features and functionalities. Thereby, the key to choosing the best EMR/EMR for your practice depends on understanding your practice needs and shortlisting the mental health EMR vendors who can deliver the right solutions.
At Folio3, we are one of the largest and most experienced EMR integration solution providers offering reliable, consistent, and affordable EMR integration solutions to medical practitioners and hospitals. As a leading medical imaging software company with complete expertise in HER/EMR integration, we can help practitioners to choose the right systems and develop custom features to improve their mental health services. Our experts can collaborate with you to understand your unique practice requirements and come up with bespoke solutions that add real value to your practice.
FAQs
How can EMR help psychiatrists?
EMR assists psychiatrists in making better and more coordinated decisions by collaborating with peers and accessing complete medical records for patients.
With EMR systems, psychiatrists can access patients’ complete medical records while getting access to the latest prescription and diagnosis tools to improve the accuracy and quality of healthcare treatment.
List the 5 reasons why psychiatrists need an EMR by Folio3.
Folio3 is a global leader when it comes to integrated medical software solutions for improved healthcare practice. With a worldwide industry experience and strong expertise in the domain, we are fully capable of enabling psychiatrists to leverage the best EMR solution for their practice. Some of the reasons why Folio3 remains the best choice for practitioners in their quest for the best EMR integration include;
- Custom EMR Development Services
- Custom EMR Development Services
- Mobile EMR/EMR Development Services
- Compliance with all relevant regulations (GDPR, HIPAA, HL7, HL7 FHIR, CCA, CCR, CCD, and SNOMED, etc.)
- Comprehensive Integration solutions (Salesforce Health Cloud EMR Integration and much more)
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