Becker’s Hospital Review is a wealth of information and they knock it out of the park again. A recent article from them outlines the specialties which spend the most time in their EHR. It may seem odd that we are totally okay with talking about another news source, but what good is great news if you don’t share it?
So that’s what we’re doing, and they’re results are certainly interesting. They looked at data from almost six hundred providers and found that the most time spent by physicians is in gastroenterology, internal medicine, and family medicine. It may be that these specialties simply have the most documentation required, it may alternatively be that these specialties lean toward EHR’s that don’t fit their needs in an intuitive way. Either way it’s intriguing and it got us wondering what the data looks like on time spent by billing staff. Unfortunately, the data for that is all over the place, and vary ten-fold.
With a 154% increase in telehealth services, not kidding check out CMS, using technology to drive efficiencies and access is at all-time high. So given the data from Becker’s in combination with extremely varied billing time required, what are a few things you can do to drive efficiency in your facility and maybe steal that lunch hour back?
- Optimize the use of your existing systems – do you truly know how your systems work? Well enough to ensure you are using every available feature? These days you need to make sure your system is working for you. Not the other way around so make sure to take another look at that user guide, reach out to your vendor rep, and put that system to work.
- Know where the deficits are – none of us are huge fans of looking at our weaknesses but it’s a factor of life and also, it’s way easier when we are talking about software than ourselves. So be critical, document what you need your system to do. Then document at what level your system meets each of these needs. If it’s acceptable work with it and find ways to work around it, if its not acceptable well, that’s probably a different blog but start researching new products.
- Supplement what you need – If moving systems made you laugh at the audacity of the suggestion, consider supplementing with another product. There are a lot out there so definitely do the leg work to vet them accordingly but check them out, worse that can happen is you don’t find the right fit. Best case scenario, you get enough efficiency to check your email, sit down, or even, dare I suggest it, check everything off your to-do list daily.
All the above said, if what you need is quick access to your data, KPIs, aggregated analytics that come to you quick, clean, and on demand? Give us a shout. We can’t disappear ever-changing regulations and documentation requirements, but we can take the pain out of your analytics.
