Top Benefits of EHR Systems

A fully integrated EHR system offers everything you need to provide higher quality and safer care for your clients while creating substantial improvements for your behavioral health agency. From the initial intake of a new client through the entire lifecycle of a client’s care, an EHR platform provides a variety of benefits for your business and your clients. Some of the top benefits of EHR systems include:

• Accurate billing. One of the key benefits of an EHR system is reducing the risk of billing code errors that result in denial of claims. The claim submission process is automated and identifies claim issues before they’re submitted.
• Increased revenue. Through efficiencies achieved in managing the case files for clients, clinicians spend less time in front of the screen and more time with clients. An EHR can also help you institute new programs for servicing clients, bringing in new revenue.
• Improved cash flow. You’ll experience fewer spikes when you manage your revenue life cycle with an EHR platform. Billings and collections management are automated, and you can track claim status and other key reporting measures to understand how your billings are performing.
• Holistic view of key metrics. Not only are there standard reports an EHR produces to help you keep track of key metrics, but you can also create your own queries to help you track everything from treatments plans and outcomes to staff productivity and finances, plus more.
• Improved care coordination. Another key benefit of a fully integrated EHR platform is that your clinicians, EHR administrators, and executives will have access to the same information, allowing for better care coordination. Administrative staff can access files to schedule appointments, manage billings, and run reports, while clinicians can access treatment plans and prescriptions and input notes that result in automatic billings.
• Increased client engagement. Communicate better with clients through a fully integrated EHR system. You can send text messages, emails, or phone calls to remind clients about upcoming appointments, and clients have access to their records for better collaboration with clinicians concerning their care.
• Agency efficiencies and cost savings. Less time spent shuffling paperwork from department to department results in less clerical errors and reduces the risk of data getting lost in between. All relevant information is contained in the client’s EHR and is accessible by your scheduling department, clinicians who perform treatments, billing department, and executives for federal mandated reporting purposes. This can have an impact on your bottom line.
• Improved diagnostics. It’s easy to create and track successful treatment plans, and you can see any missing clinical documentation in your client charts in real-time. You also get seamless execution of e-signatures and e-prescribing for safer prescriptions.
• Better patient outcomes. All of the above benefits of EHR systems help drastically improve your operational efficiency, which leads to better patient outcomes. Not only do clinicians have more time to spend with clients, but they also have access to successful treatment plans. Also, clients are more engaged through the communications piece of an EHR software solution, leading to better client commitment to treatment and appointments.

About the Author

David Strocchia, SVP and Managing Director, Human Services

Dave Strocchia leads the human services organization for Netsmart. In this role, he works closely with the clinical, development and product teams to ensure all Netsmart technology solutions and professional services align with client and market needs. This allows clients across the human services community to thrive in emerging models of care, like value-based reimbursement.

An active participant in advancing healthcare technology since 2003, Dave’s career at Netsmart began in 2007. Over his tenure, he has held a variety of roles in areas such as consulting, client alignment and product management. He holds a Bachelor of Science in industrial and management engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.