Beyond Medical Claims and Billing – How EHRs Can Deliver Greater Clinical Value
The EHR can prove to be a very valuable tool to co-ordinate care and improve patient outcomes by facilitating access, and medical record analysis and review.
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The electronic health record is expected to bring in many positive changes including improved patient care, and care co-ordination among providers. It is hoped that medical record review and analysis would also become easier with increased ease of access to all the relevant records. Lawyers and the medical review service providers that assist them are also observing the implementation of EHRs with great interest since an efficient system would be beneficial to them as well, when considering personal injury, workers’ compensation and medical malpractice cases involving large volume medical records. Realizing the Real Value of the EHR The full value of electronic health records can be realized only when they are implemented and used in the right manner. In other words,
Physicians who use EHR should have a clear understanding of its potentials and how to use the system for their benefit.
They should always keep in mind the best way to use EHR as a valuable tool that enables multiple physicians from different specialties to co-ordinate care, communicate important medical information, and provide medical treatment safely and quickly.
When medical care is provided via close co-ordination of a multi-specialty group using advanced IT systems reimbursed on a pay-for-value instead of fee-for-service model, patient outcomes will be superior.
A Real Life Example Forbes.com carried an article that clearly established the superior utility value of EHR with a real-life example. The providers referred to are The Permanente Medical Group (TPMG) who began an innovative program to ensure that no lung cancer patient failed to receive the required follow-up.In the USA, lung cancer is the second most commonly diagnosed malignancy and many people die of this disease. Therefore it is vital that this strain of cancer is detected at an early stage. Here is how they went about with this innovative approach:
Radiologists placed an identifying marker on all chest CT exams noting whether a lung mass was present. They also expressed their degree of suspicion as to whether that lump was cancerous. This electronic marker is trackable and instructed the computer system to extract key information from the EHR about any earlier imaging studies done and past medical history.
A single-page report that could be easily accessed via desktop and mobile was made available to the entire care team.
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As a result each physician in the care team had important information about the patient, which they were totally unlikely to miss.
The radiologist by this innovative electronic marker had in effect created a strong, high-quality safety net for the patients.
Since the entire care team had access to the same information at the same time, it was easy for them to reach a consensus as regards future treatment protocols to adopt.
With such innovative use of the electronic health record in an integrated, multispecialty medical group, any chance for confusion and medical error can be ruled out, and valuable time saved.
Now, lung cancers are being diagnosed at an earlier stage and treated more quickly. In Kaiser Permanente Oakland, the average period from diagnosis of lung cancer to definitive surgery has dropped by more than half – that is, from the U.S. average of 40 days to just 16 days. Comparing the statistics from years 2011 and 2014, the frequency of the cancer spreading beyond the lung was found to have decreased from 56.5% to 52.2% -- a significant 7.6% decrease. Inspired by the success of this EHR initiative, other clinicians have also started to track and manage a variety of cancers (ovarian, pancreas, kidney, liver and testicular) and other serious medical conditions. Here Are the Advantages EHRs Can Offer
Support physicians as they work out the correct treatment protocols to ensure safety for their patients
Speed up medical work-ups
Speed up diagnosis and treatment
Make available extensive expertise from multiple sources
Thus by facilitating medical record review and analysis and ensuring ease of access, EHRs can be excellent tools in the hands of physicians. Physicians can combine technology, innovation and teamwork to achieve superior clinical outcomes. The electronic health record need not just be a tool for medical claims and billing. With the right implementation and use, these will surely add great clinical value and also prove to be an outstanding way of improving patient care and satisfaction.
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