4 Ways Technology can Improve Patient Care

Technology is transforming the way healthcare is delivered to patients. As many physicians start to dread their impending electronic medical records implementation, some physicians fail to realize there are numerous benefits in the electronic delivery of patient communication. These benefits include the following:

1. Electronic Communication

Electronic communication can significantly improve the efficiency and productivity of your practice. Email and internet communication is less disruptive than telephone calls, and less expensive. Email is self-documenting and provides a source to perform a variety of tasks, such as patient scheduling, reminders ,disease management, non-urgent medical inquiries and patient monitoring. These tasks are all performed within the low cost of HIPAA compliant email exchanges, compared to paper-based health information systems.

3. Information Exchange

By exchanging health and clinical information before the scheduled office visit, the patient-physician encounter is more productive. Patients are also more satisfied due to shorter wait times, and less time consuming office visits. Office staff will spend less time obtaining patient records and data and more time tending to the day-to-day needs of the practice and patients.

3. Online Care

Online care allows physicians the ability to monitor patient care without additional and sometimes unnecessary office visits. Thus, patients are better able to spend more time caring for patients who need more urgent care. Physicians can order test, send prescriptions and referrals electronically, which reduces treatment time and the need to multiple office visits. The elimination of unnecessary office visits also helps patients avoid time loss from work and keeps health care costs low.

4. Better Follow Up

Through online communication, physicians can provide their patients with links to reliable medical information on the Internet. Physicians can also attach relevant and customizable documentation for their patients. Most EHRs such as practice fusion have patient portals that allow patients to log in and see upcoming appoints, test results and other pertinent information.

Technology will allow to you engage with patients in ways that cannot be matched by traditional methods. Being available to your patients online provides them with a special connection and better of sense of trust with the care they receive. Implementing certified EHR technology can allow you to see 50+ patients a day and still give each the attention they deserve.