EHR Features for Chiropractic Practices
Doctors of chiropractic medicine need an electronic health record software that fits smoothly into their fast paced workflows. There simply is not enough time in the day to be tied down to a desktop computer with a clunky EHR, and paper records have long become obsolete. However, the right EHR can free up the time you need to improve your patient care.
For an optimal fit at your chiropractic clinic, seek out features in an EMR and practice management software that will provide you with a straightforward experience while still having room to customize workflows as needed. Though there are many features that can help your clinic, there are some important ones that no chiropractic EHR should be without.
Mobile Friendly and Cloud Based
Because chiropractors need to be on their feet and directly interacting with patients, it’s important that they have an electronic medical records system that complements the way they work. As such, a mobile friendly, cloud based EHR is a must have for chiropractic clinics. Chiropractors should be able to access and edit patient notes directly from mobile devices like their iPad or iPhone.
DrChrono user Dr. Alex Miller of KC Performance Chiropractic and Rehab noted that the mobility of his EHR was essential as he got his practice off the ground.
“I could literally take my phone into the treatment room if I wanted to, pull up the patient notes, and do anything I needed to from there,” he mentioned about his experience starting a chiropractic clinic. The flexibility provided by a mobile EHR cannot be understated for a practitioner who values both efficiency and face-to-face patient interactions.
Efficient Charting Tools
Time is valued at a premium in chiropractic clinics. EHRs without intuitive charting tools only serve to slow down the appointment process. Because chiropractors will often be seeing the same patients and working with them on similar problems each appointment over a long period of time, they should not have to enter and re-enter the same information manually into every note.
That’s where a feature like persistent templates comes in handy. With persistent templates, a chiropractor can enter patient information once during the first encounter, and that information will appear on a specific form for all future appointments. This feature not only saves time on data entry, but it also works particularly well for tracking pain progress from one week to the next.
Something else to look for in an EHR system is the ability to take pictures and videos that will appear directly in the EHR. This becomes even more useful when providers are able to annotate that picture. Moreover, being able to take videos in your EHR from your iPad will help with patients who forget what they need to do for certain exercises.
You will also want your platform to have customizable templates. DrChrono user Dr. Jonathan Adams of The UnBroken Body mentioned that this customizability is a big piece of what excited him about the platform.
“Being able to customize the notes I use everyday has really improved my charting process. I have just about 100% customized my notes. I’ve even been able to build notes similar to those I used in school which has simplified things greatly for me,” he said.
Finally, make sure your chosen electronic health record software has charting features like switches that can further streamline the note taking process. When building a form, providers can add switches to populate common recommendations, procedure notes or frequently used documentation at the press of a button. This saves a lot of time on manual entry of information that you may have to use nearly every appointment.
You can also use them to hide certain fields that you only use for a subset of patients. For example, if you have certain information that would be relevant to gather from a male patient but not a female patient, you can use a switch to hide that field from female patients.
Streamlined Billing Features
Billing is another time intensive task that a better EHR can help trim down. A feature to look out for on the billing side of things is the ability to save patient payment methods in the EHR. When a patient swipes their credit card at the end of an appointment, you should be able to save that information to make payments even faster the next time around.
Also, an EHR that automatically posts ERAs and claims will be a significant time saver. Many other specialty specific EHRs do not have this capability. Instead they have to go through the clearinghouse to find that information.
“Billing is fairly straightforward with DrChrono. By the time I’m done with the note, the bill is sent out, and then we get something back in about a week or two,” said Dr Miller.
Open API for Third Party App Integrations
Finally, chiropractors could benefit from an EMR system that allows for third party app integrations into the EMR through a secure, open API. This will provide a whole host of opportunities to further customize your system to the needs of your chiropractic clinic. For example, companies like Physitrack can integrate into your mobile EHR, giving you access to over 4600 clinically validated exercise videos to share information with your patients.
Of course, there are always more features to consider when searching for the right EMR for chiropractors. If you would like to know more about important tools like telehealth, medical billing and more, you can find that information covered more in depth here.