EMR or Electronic Medical Record simply means a digital record of a hospital and its patients. You can call EMR a digital equivalent of paper-based records being used in medical centers.
EMRs help medical practitioners perform without errors and extend the best medical help to their patients. While EMR can be a blessing for hospitals, clinics, and doctors, the proficiency of the service depends upon doctors using EMRs in the right context.
In this guide, we will get to know everything about the EMR system, how it works, and if it really helps in saving money. If you want to know everything regarding the same, keep reading with us.
What actually is EMR?
As mentioned earlier, EMR stands for Electronic Medical Records. It is kind of similar to a telephone or a typewriter. But when it comes to functionality, an EMR can do much more than a telephone or a typewriter.
An EMR makes creating and storing medical records much easier, relieving doctors and medical professions of the strenuous task of recording and retrieving data. Additionally, an EMR helps doctors to communicate in critical situations and exchange important messages. Now that we know what an EMR is and how it is a great help in the medical world, let’s find out how it helps save money.
Minimal use of paper
If you start using EMRs, you will notice a drastic decrease in paper use. As now you can store and record most of the information in electrical form, you no longer need to keep a huge stock of files and other paper-related supplies.
Reduced use of paper will save you a huge part of the money you used to spend. Additionally, the use of EMR helps you reduce paper waste and go greener. Having said that, you need to remember you can’t go 100% paperless and will need to print something at some point.
EMR is more effective and proficient
Storing records with paper files can be daunting and confusing. It comes with the risk of data getting lost or mixed up, but this is not the case with EMRs. Electronic devices come with the great advantage that you won’t lose any information, and each patient’s data can be stored in separate files.
Also, an EMR makes booking appointments faster and easier, and also billing is done within seconds. Getting used to the new software and the transition from paper-based work to electronic work might take some time. Once you get the hang, it’s like a cakewalk!
Improve patient turnout
Patients tend to miss their appointment and forget about it if it’s booked over a call. This might lead to a loss of time and money for the doctor as the slot booked for one patient can not be allocated to another.
Having an EMR app like Calysta can help resolve this issue. Patients will receive reminders about their appointments, and there are fewer chances of them missing their medical visit. Calysta over traditional EMR comes with many advanced features helping both physicians and patients work efficiently.
Easily retrieve patient information
Using digital tools like EMR helps to retrieve patient information quickly. Your staff can save almost half the time earlier spent in retrieving patient information, and it decreases labor costs too. For instance, if typical information retrieval takes 4 minutes, here it will merely take around 30 seconds. This will allow you to engage your staff in other work that needs to be done urgently.
Frees up office space
You can free up the space consumed by the pile of files by going digital. After paper files are duly scanned and stored in the EMR, you can get rid of them. Now you have an empty space that earlier was taken by patient files.
How can you utilize the extra space? Try to make it a space for earning extra revenue for your medical business. You can utilize this space to treat extra patients, or you can convert it to a yoga or Zumba room. Either way, it becomes a source of extra revenue.
Efficient allocation of the staff
When you get an EMR, you eliminate the need for keeping a full-time medical record clerk. It saves you around $2000 a month, which can go higher depending on the practices.
Now you can train your record clerk for other duties like front desk management, helping other staff to reduce the workload, and the like. To avail such efficient allocation of the staff, an ERM is quite a necessity.
Conclusion
As you can see, an EMR machine comes with a lot of benefits, which aids in saving money. The primary benefit it offers is minimizing the use of paper, which has a dual profit. It both saves money and the environment.
Hopefully, this blog helped you understand the necessity of an EMR in your office. Make sure you do proper research before getting one, as you will use it for a prolonged period.
