Electronic Health Record Systems are growing in popularity as providers move away from paper and excel spreadsheets. These systems and Bariatric Electronic Medical Record systems in particular, allow providers to do a lot more than just store patient information efficiently. A well designed and robust EHR can allow providers to better manage their practices, offer better service and better tracking of patients and allow them to compare their results over time to other providers in the EHRs network of surgeons. All of these functions contribute to improving the safety levels and the quality of health care given while generating a positive return on investment for the provider. The key to a successful implementation starts with a clear outline of the project scope and objectives and a critical evaluation of the ability of the EHR vendors ability to satisfy those requirements on time and on budget.
For example, an existing practice may define their project objective as a vision is to be recognized as a national leader in quality and patient experience. The get to that objective, the practice may need the capabilities to collect, offer and analyze the necessary compehensive patient care data related to patient outcome. In addition, the practice determined that a key part of their approach was to involve the patient more directly in the process. Therefore, the practice requires a Electronic Medical Records System that is able to provide the required information in an easy to follow and timely manner directly to existing patients. In addition, the practice emphasized that in order to continue to grow and outpace potential competition, it was imperitive that the EHR be able to track the progress of existing patients while also enabling it to reach potential customers that may have expressed interest in obtaining bariatric suregery services in a timly fashion.
The practice defined its immediate requirements as maintaining its Center of Excellence certification by generating timely and accurate data on patient outcome; increasing efficiency through reduction of data entry from multiple systems (through the development of interfaces) to one; increasing customer satisfaction; and finally, increased understanding of their current patient base, their experiences and the level and their satisfaction with follow-ups.