Electronic Health Records in Behavioral Health: Are They Required?

electronic-health-records

Electronic Health Records in Behavioral Health: Are They Required?

  • Posted On May 17, 2021
  • Posted By Vu Nguyen

Electronic Health Records in Behavioral Health: Are They Required?

In a discussion of electronic health records for medical practitioners in the behavioral health sector, the development and successful incorporation of such technology is a good starting point for that discussion.

Behavioral health practices are quite different from various other practices in the family, as it focuses solely on the connection between behaviors, health and the well-being of the body, mind, and spirit. And as technology advances, electronic means of storing information, as opposed to the traditional manual data entry procedure, have become more widespread and useful to healthcare organizations.

Among the technologies being integrated with this sector is the Electronic Health Records technology which is a real-life, patient-based record with secure and immediate access for authorized users. This technology has become an innovative system that collects, interprets, and manages data for treatments, prescriptions, and lots more. The EHR may include the following information:

  • Patient’s medical history and orders
  • Demographics
  • Allergies
  • Billing
  • Prescriptions and treatment plans
  • Insurance information
  • Medical tests, radiology images, lab results, etc.
  • Health assessment notes, and other health vitals.

Requirements for an effective EHR

The electronic health record’s requirements of a behavioral health organization will generally be dictated by the needs of its patient population, and the type of clinical data generated by the treatment of these patients. However, the unique requirements presented by the patient population of a behavioral health practice require an EHR to offer sophisticated features about sharing patient data in a unified fashion, monitoring medications and care and providing patient engagement features.

Below is a detailed list of features of an effective EHR for a behavioral health organization.

  • Electronic documentation management

Patient data needs to be structured well and easily accessible for medical practitioners, patients themselves, and other parties. EHR development with a possibility to create charts is useful for presenting the information. Also, it would be ideal to have custom EHR templates for specific behavioral health needs.

  • Medical dashboards

This option allows for the illustration of medical processes, medications, and treatment results for a particular patient. In addition to this, medical dashboards also generate some statistical information and related charts.

  • Time Management

Medical staff need to have the ability to better optimize their time for increased productivity. As well, these medical practitioners need to schedule appointments to organize their workload efficiently.

  • Report generation

Another important feature to have in an EHR is the ability to create reports with specific information like medications, demographics, procedures, and so on. It is also useful to have the ability to generate clinical and administrative data reports for better analysis.

  • Record and track progress

Unlike the traditional method of putting down handwritten notes, EHR software can help you take progress notes in a digital format. Digital notes are more secure and are very helpful when trying to revert to a specific session or date.

  • Cloud-based storage

The focus today is on how information collected in EHR is securely stored. Cloud-based storage options are more secure than the traditional web-based options which are more liable to malware and other cyber threats. Patient’s data stored on the cloud will always be accessible from anywhere and at any time, and physicians do not have to worry about system meltdown or any horrific event that can cause data loss.

This medical record system has now been successfully established and implemented in the behavioral health world, meaning clinics and health organizations can now make effective use of this technology.

If you have an EHR project, VN-Consulting will help in the development and implementation of the software. We have IT experts who are ready to work on your project. Contact Us today, we will be glad to answer all your questions.

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