Electronic health records, or EHR, software is used by both small and big medical offices to maintain track of patient information and identify broad trends in the community they serve. A behavioral health EHR application is essential for healthcare professionals that specialize in behavioral health.
A generic EHR program that you have neglected to modify is the last thing you want to burden your personnel with. Finding a committed behavioral health EHR software developer with a strong track record of maintaining and improving its application is a better option than attempting to reinvent the wheel.
Accurate and efficient billing processes are essential in the field of behavioral health to ensure proper reimbursement for services rendered. However, the complexities and unique requirements of behavioral health billing pose significant challenges for providers.
Here are six behavioral health EHR must-have features to keep in mind when choosing the program you'll be using.
1. Telehealth Capability for Behavioral Health EHR
The unique coronavirus that causes COVID-19 infections has put a tremendous amount of strain on the entire world's population. It is obvious that this continues to negatively impact patients with behavioral health. BH professionals started adopting telehealth tools to conduct virtual patient contacts so they could visit with patients even during lockdowns and shelter-in-place orders.
To keep your staff and patients as healthy as possible during communicable disease outbreaks, your behavioral health EHR should include telehealth sessions since they are here to stay.
2. Robust Security
It is difficult to predict the chaos that would result from computer hackers breaking into your system, but suffice it to say that your practice's reputation would be destroyed and you would be held liable for all of the patient files and sensitive data the hackers disclosed. This is why it's crucial that your BH EHR is designed with the most up-to-date and robust security measures available right now.
3. Behavioral Health EHR Developer Provides Regular Software Updates
Your clinic does not want to be forced to use behavioral health EHR software from a vendor who is not on top of code updates. The program requires regular updates in order to stay protected from hacker attacks because security concerns are a constant potential threat. Additionally, the EHR for your BH patients needs to be up to date with industry and governmental laws so you can stay compliant and adhere to both the letter and the spirit of the law.
4. Compliance With Latest Government Regulations
You will unavoidably share a lot of sensitive data with several doctors while caring for a single behavioral health patient.
Since over 65% of BH patients have underlying chronic disorders that require concurrent therapy, you might send your patient in to be evaluated for hypertension or diabetes, for instance. There is always a chance that you will suggest internal medicine or neurology specialists to BH patients.
HL7, which stands for Health Seven International and is a globally recognized standard for protecting safety when transferring patient data, states that the software must adhere to its requirements.
Therefore, your behavioral health EHR configuration should be created and updated to constantly be in compliance with the law.
5. BH-Appropriate Data Fields, Forms, and Documentation
Your team must be diligent in how it creates, maintains, and keeps the documentation for each patient. Therefore, your software should unquestionably feature categories for mental health data that third-party providers and accreditation organizations can utilize to evaluate your clinic and its operations.
When compared to paperwork that must be submitted to a community treatment center or a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, the types of information and documentation you must present to a psychiatrist will differ.
6. Multiple-provider Access to Patient Files in Real-Time
As was mentioned, numerous medical professionals may work together to treat a single BH patient. As a result, the behavioral health EHR software that you use should permit access from numerous providers. For the information to be valuable to the many staff members, it must be current and updated frequently.
It makes sense for many BH healthcare providers to include a cloud computing component in their EHR software so that anyone with an internet-connected device may simply access it.
7. Fast and Efficient Laboratory Orders and Electronic Prescriptions
You don't want to keep the personnel waiting around for a patient to complete their laboratory testing. So the behavioral health EHR you choose should have a built-in feature for lab orders. Making patients wait while the pharmacist fills their prescriptions is also undesirable. Your doctors must be able to create electronic prescriptions using the BH electronic health record program.
These bypass the need for people to submit a paper prescription and wait for it to be filled and instead go directly to the pharmacist. While the patient is traveling from the BH doctor's office, the pharmacy can complete the order.
Conclusion
Adopting an efficient Electronic Health Record system designed specifically for mental health is crucial for strengthening cooperation, optimizing clinical workflows, and improving patient care.
A comprehensive behavioral health EHR system can enable providers to deliver individualized and efficient care while enhancing patient outcomes in the area of behavioral health by incorporating customizable templates, care coordination tools, clinical decision support, outcome measurement capabilities, telehealth features, compliance with privacy regulations, and interoperability.
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