President Obama has made implementation of electronic health records (EHR) a priority.

In 2004, legislation passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bush requires the use of electronic record systems by the healing arts by 2014. President Obama pushed that date to 2011 with the stimulus package that, according to media sources, will increase reimbursement from federal insurance programs to all providers that implement and use EHR systems in their practices.

The opposite is also claimed that anyone that does not employ an EHR system will see reimbursements reduced.

Although the early legislation in 2004 allowed an exemption for small practices, the stimulus package law gives its rewards and punishments regardless of the size of your practice.

Proper implementation and benefits

An electronic health record (EHR) is the patient’s complete file with anything and everything you have ever placed in it. This includes not only the clinical material, but also demographics, financial data, insurance information, personal notes, administrative memos, and anything else you or your staff considered as something to be saved.

Another term that many use interchangeably, but there is a significant difference in, is electronic medical record (EMR). An EMR, sometimes called an electronic clinical record (ECR), is solely the clinical record (daily progress or SOAP notes and narrative reports). It does not include the nonclinical information.

Proper implementation of an EHR software program can increase income, reduce expenses, and save time, among other benefits.

• Electronic SOAP.A properly used EHR system will provide a high-quality SOAP note in a brief time with the depth of detail necessary to meet and exceed the demands of the insurance industry. To produce an equally thorough and understandable SOAP note by hand, it would take 15 minutes to 20 minutes. It is up to you to upgrade the quality of patient documentation.

• Better back up. EHR programs don’t forget, and they don’t lose critical information. To ensure this happens, you must back up the EHR data at least once per day, or at a minimum once per week, to have a copy of that current data stored safely in a location outside your office.

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