It's probably a safe bet to say that today's physician practices are fielding more calls than ever from vendors offering to sell them electronic health record (EHR) systems. Some vendors are probably even showing up in person on the chance that they might get to talk with someone from the practice's staff. EHRs can deliver a great many benefits to a practice, and now is a great time to take advantage of the government's financial incentives to adopt the technology. However, as is often the case, the devil is in the details, and making a few wise decisions early in the process can be key in achieving a successful outcome.
Perhaps the first hurdle for practices to overcome is deciding on who they can trust. Even with the financial incentives, EHRs still require a substantial financial investment ― not to mention the investment in staff and other resources to implement and learn the system. Practices need to be sure the system they select will:
• Fit into the workflow of their practice so users will adopt it
• Provide the functionality and efficiency they need
• Be supported by the vendor in terms of training, troubleshooting and upgrades
• Survive the industry's vendor consolidation trend
• Meet government EHR certification criteria
• Enable them to meet meaningful use criteria and earn the $44,000 to $63,750 of stimulus funding available under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, which is a component of the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA)
To be certain, evaluating EHR systems and vendors is an arduous task ― especially for physicians and practice managers who are already busy with heavy workloads. However, there is an alternative. Physician practices may find a potential EHR resource in an existing and trusted business partner ― a third-party medical billing service. After all, many practices already trust billing companies with one of their most vital assets ― their cash.
Leveraging a billing company's expertise for EHR selection essentially jump starts the process. Billing companies learn a great deal about their physician practice clients as they work closely with them to convert clinical documentation into claims and manage reimbursement. This knowledge provides the billing company with insight into the practice's technical expertise, staffing resources, workflow patterns, clinical documentation needs, and even the personalities within the practice who may help or hinder EHR implementation and adoption. Tapping into this knowledge can help the practice determine if a particular EHR is too technical or too difficult to maintain for a practice, or even if an EHRs features are robust enough for the practice.
In addition, billing companies maintain an accurate "pulse" of the vendors within the industry, which range from newcomers to established companies and even the obscure companies that few people know about. This knowledge is an important part of the EHR selection process because physician practices will require long-term support for their solutions after they purchase them. Also, they'll need to work with a vendor that provides the necessary system upgrades to keep pace with industry changes, such as the new 5010 transaction standard and the ICD-10 code set.
Besides determining the financial stability of the EHR vendor, billing companies offer a "safety net" of support when they are involved in the EHR selection process. Practices typically maintain long-term relationships with their billing companies. As a result, billing companies have a strong incentive to thoroughly research their EHR recommendations before presenting them to their physician practice clients. A poor recommendation on a decision of this magnitude would almost certainly jeopardize their client relationships. Plus, many billing companies provide EHR implementation, maintenance and support services as a value-added component of their core billing service. Even in the unfortunate event that an EHR vendor gets acquired or goes out of business, practices will still have their billing company to help support the EHR solution they have in place.
Sure, today's practices are experiencing a great deal of pressure to implement EHR technology. However, they don't need to make these difficult system selection choices alone. Practices with established billing company relationships should engage their partners to help with the decision, and even practices who perform their own billing can seek the assistance of a reputable third party biller to help manage this undertaking. Such actions will greatly increase the chances of a successful implementation.
Scott Everson, CHBME is President of the Healthcare Billing and Management Association (www.hbma.org) and Vice President of PracticeMax, a revenue cycle management organization that provides billing & coding services, practice management & EMR software, and consulting for medical businesses and clinical operations. He can be reached at scotteverson@practicemax.com or 480-374-7207.
