Since all medical practices are making the change to electronic recording, the electronic medical records (EMR) software for cardiology needs to incorporate all of these features to make the transition smooth.

Patient’s records are more complicated and require special tests that also need to be recorded. Paper records are not only tedious to compile and update they are prone to getting misplaced or completely lost.

Keeping track of patient records can be a stressful task for a practice of any size, but for specialties, records keeping is another matter. Cardiology is a complicated field requiring constant checks and balances. It requires a lot of imaging tests and relies heavily on electronic medical devices such as ECG, ECHO, and Spirometers to monitor and detect abnormalities.

Features of Cardiology EMR Software

To have a good understanding of how the software works, it is advisable to learn about the different features and functionalities of the software. Before choosing a Cardiology EHR software, you should check if the software has the following key features:

Specific Templates – Certain tests and procedures are intrinsic to the cardiology field and need to be part of cardiology specific EMR software. Templates include:

Pacemaker visits

Warfarin interaction alerts

ICDs

Cardiology SOAP notes

Hypertension

Carotid ultrasound

Exercise stress tests

Medical Device Integration – Because cardiology relies heavily on medical devices to monitor and examine patient conditions the EMR software integrates with the devices generating results automatically to save time and effort.

PQRI Reporting – Procedures in cardiology generate a high percentage of PQRI. Because of this most electronic medical records software are equipped with reporting functions for these as well as other pay-for-performance measures which are important for any practices payment structure.

Workflow Management – If you work in a Cardiology EHR practice, you need to deal with recording and storing large volumes of data. The EMR software should be able to manage, document and maintain all the cardiology related workflows. This helps the physicians in having a better understanding of the condition of the patient and helps them in taking the right decisions at the right times.

Cardiology Dashboard – The top Cardiology EHR software must feature a real-time dashboard that will help physicians to clearly view patient charts, profiles, billing processes, scheduling, etc. all at one place. The dashboard also saves the time that is taken in opening multiple tabs.

Coding and Billing – The cardiology specific electronic medical records provide coding to verify ICD-10 and CPT codes that are associated with the diagnosis. This allows for direct connectivity with billing software ensuring faster payments that are accurate.

Urgent Alerts – Cardiology is a time-sensitive field and results and reports that might indicate an emergency health crisis that needs immediate notification. Urgent alerts in the system take the physical analysis of the doctor out of the equation giving the reports agency, highlighting them automatically.

Data Analysis – Integration with medical devices allows for immediate result generation, but Electronic Medical Records (EMR) software takes it further by adding an analytical tool that takes the data and provides support in diagnosis and tracking progress.

How to Choose Cardiology EHR Vendor?

Now that you’ve narrowed down all the vendors that provide cardiology EMR software you need to narrow the selection down to those that fill your requirements as a specialty as well as a medical practice.

Size – Some vendors cater better to large practices while some are best suited to smaller ones. EMR systems are designed keeping a certain number of users, scalability, and support required in mind. When selecting a vendor to keep in mind the size of your practice.

Certification – It makes sense to make sure the software you’re going to purchase is certified. For cardiology, the certification you should be looking out for is by the ONC-Authorized Testing and Certification Body (“ONC-ATCB”). They are responsible for making sure your vendor meets Meaningful Use objectives and is HIPAA compliant.

System Design – The choice, essentially, is between the installation of the software in your on-site computer server, or cloud-based software that is available anywhere via the Internet. Which system a practice goes for depends on their personal choice and comfort level. Some doctors feel more comfortable having the system on their computer server because they feel this is more compliant with HIPAA requirements, while others need to have access to their database wherever they are. You’ll need to shortlist vendors who fulfill your needs in this department.

What You Need To Know About EMR Software

Overview

Electronic Medical Records Software or commonly referred to as EMR Software represents the electronic method of storing medical records for patients. Using specially designed software, physicians and other medical professionals can store anything ranging from patient demographics to extensive clinical information about patients, such as medical history, social history, lab reports and more.

EMR Software by Specialty

Since all medical providers (MDs, DOs, PAs, NPs, LCSW, OT, etc.) work in a distinct manner based on their background and medical specialty, EHR Software or EMR Software must accommodate the unique style and documentation requirements. Examples of such specialty-specific features include the ability to annotate on images or capability to store before/after photos for Pain Management specialists and Dermatology specialists respectively. Similarly, other specialties such as Pediatrics, Oncology, Podiatry, Ophthalmology, Neurology, Nephrology, Dialysis Centers, Rheumatology and Chiropractic Care require their unique set of specialty-specific features to simplify adoption.

Meaningful-Use

Since the introduction of the HITECH Act, healthcare IT has undergone a massive transition starting from the widely recognized Meaningful Use program to what is now known as MACRA, the Medicare EHR Incentive Program. The Meaningful Use program has transformed and now formed part of the four components of the new Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS), which itself is a fundamental part of MACRA.

For some medical practices, the transition from paper-based records to EMR Software (Electronic Medical Records Software) has not been a simple one. Regardless, realizing that the benefits of utilizing ONC Certified EMR Software far outweigh the hassle and challenges associated with it – ensuring a viable future, most practices today have successfully transformed their clinical and administrative operations to EMR Software.

EMR Software Benefits

Aside from ensuring tangible financial incentives and profitability, practices converting to EMR / EHR Software have seen the following benefits:

EMR Software Requirements by Practice Size

Just like a medical specialty, EHR Software requirements also depend on the size of the medical practice. From solo provider clinics to large multi-provider, multi-specialty clinics, every practice has unique inherent challenges that must be addressed by the EMR Software vendor.

Medium-Sized Practices

These practices usually consist of 5 to 10 medical providers often belonging to the same medical specialty. Their requirements are more stringent, while their budget is also considerably large. Aside from specialty-focused requirements (EHR Software by Specialty), these practices also require unique features such as interoperability, dedicated customer support, multi-device support as well as extensive reporting functionality to keep an eye on the overall performance of the practice.

Small or Solo Provider Practices

A small doctor’s office not only has a limited number of staff members but their EMR Software budgets are also extremely low compared to a large enterprise such as a hospital. Due to these budgetary constraints, many providers simply choose to employ Free EMR Software or choose an affordable EHR Software vendor with a low fixed monthly fee. Cloud-based access is one such important requirement so that these providers can access patient charts even from home when needed.

Large practices

Larger group practices generally comprise more fifteen or often twenty medical providers. These practices usually provide medical services that fall under various medical specialties (Orthopedics, Pain Management, Surgery, Chiropractic Medicine, Family Medicine, etc.). Therefore, these practices require support for multiple users to access the system simultaneously, as well as for the Scheduling software to accommodate multiple locations, providers and resources such as Dialysis Chairs, procedure room allocation etc. These practices also keep replacing or adding staff members and need a scalable solution.

Hospitals or enterprise organizations

EHR software companies such as Epic, Cerner, Allscripts, NextGen, Athenahealth, IMS by Meditab, eClinicalWorks, Meditech, McKesson, MEDHOST, etc. usually target and provide solutions for larger corporations like Hospitals, ACOs, PCMH, IPAs, CINs (Clinically Integrated Networks), Public Health Departments, etc.

These customers have the most elaborate list of requirements, which are usually documented in the form of an RFI or RFP to assess and shortlist vendors that can meet them. The requirements consist of features like inventory management modules, interface with local labs (LIS), machines and diagnostic equipment along with drug dispensing (pharmacy management software) and electronic medication administration records (EMAR) etc.

These entities also require the EHR software also need to integrate with multiple other software and medical devices.

Why does your practice need EMR Software?

Since the introduction of Meaningful Use, most healthcare practices simply have little or no choice but to convert their practice operations to EHR software. However, most providers today select the EHR software of their choice that best suits their specific needs and must perform an extensive search to evaluate all available options before they find one that is suitable. Most potential EMR Software buyers in the market today have the following in common:

Do not know what they are looking for Know exactly what they want but don’t know where to start or find it Relying on advice from colleagues using EMR software already

Although #3 is ideal, every provider and practice workflows are unique and therefore what works for one provider may not suit the other. “One size fits all” simply doesn’t apply in the world of healthcare IT. Software experts and industry specialists are an ideal source of information, advice and ultimately ensuring that the right decision is made.

What to Look For in a Potential EMR Software?

EMR software includes several types of software based on specific applications or functionalities:

Cloud-based EMR software

Small doctor offices benefit the most from Cloud-based EMR Software technology since minimum to no upfront cost or maintenance is required and accessing the EHR Software is possible from any location given the availability of internet access. This type of EMR software is also device independent in most cases and can be accessed using devices such as Smartphones (Android & iOS), iPhones, iPads, laptops, and desktop computers.

Mac EMR Software

Apple dominates the digital device and computer market in the US today, so it is no surprise that many providers are specifically looking for their EMR Software vendor to support Mac operating system (Mac EMR Software). Not all Vendors today work on a Mac device, so looking for a vendor with native support for Mac devices is essential to ensure that the software performs on existing hardware at the practice and does not require more investment in computer systems.

ONC-ATCB Certified EMR Software Vendors

This is the most significant requirement for most software buyers today as the software must comply with the standards and guidelines set by the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC). Online repository details all software vendors and details related to their respective compliance with the measures set by the ONC (Click here). Software that complies with these standards have undergone rigorous testing and confirmed at a benchmark level defined by the federal body. The software testing done during this exercise checks all areas of the EMR Software system from Patient Portal access to the way the EHR Software communicates with other programs and entities like labs, Pharmacies (via e-Rx), hospitals, HIEs, etc.

Cardiology EHR software

Electronic health records software (EHR) for certain specialties such as Cardiology and Vascular Surgery must provide unique tools to document the clinical workflow of those specialists such as specifying the area of concern. Pain Management specialists, for example, must be able to specify joint pain through a method more than mere capture of text data.

Integrated Practice Management Software

With competition rising in healthcare IT, EMR software providing integrated Practice Management software as part of their overall software package easily outperform rivals with standalone EHR Software including those that may provide a specialty-specific EHR software. EMR Software companies with integrated Practice Management solutions often tend to provide extensive reporting capabilities to track practice performance and manage the business operations better.

Integrated Medical Billing Software

Medical practice has several needs of software systems to streamline operations across the board. One such important area is billing for services rendered and communications with insurance companies. Medical Billing Software , therefore, works best when integrated with the Electronic Health Records software. All clinical documentation seamlessly conforms to the required standard and forms a financial document that can be electronically sent to payers (insurance carriers) to verify and process at their end. This simplifies the operations and ensures all parties are on the same page when it comes to the financial health of the enterprise. Medical billing software helps practices and medical billing managers generate claims, patient statements, verify patient eligibility and more. This software is ideal for practices that want to handle billing in-house and can integrate with EMRs.

Security

An EMR Software must ensure the security and safety of patient records while ensuring privacy and HIPAA compliance for patient/doctor communication ( Patient Portal ). This is a paramount concern for physicians and HIPAA compliance should be guaranteed at all times by the EHR Vendor. Most Vendors today (Epic, Cerner, Athenahealth, AdvancedMD, PrognoCIS, Modernizing Medicine, eClincalWorks, etc.) are aware of the importance of HIPAA compliance and have taken steps to ensure the safety of patient records security in every section of the EHR Software using advanced tools like data encryption technologies to enhance the security of the EMR software.

PrognoCIS EMR Software

Specific Services

One of the decisions your practice will have to make is whether you want just an EMR software or one with an integrated Practice Management for billing and scheduling. There are advantages to having both together but there have been cases where some practices only go for one if they had unique requirements that a vendor could not fulfill, or they had already paid a hefty amount for a PM software and weren’t looking to replace it yet.

Ease of Use and Training

Doctors are not IT professionals, and though some might be tech savvy, it would be egregious to expect them all to be experts on the EHR software. Ease of use is essential to make the transition from paper to electronic smooth, as well as day to day practice to go along without a hitch. If the software is too complicated and hard to understand, it’s a waste of precious time and needlessly aggravating. Some vendors offer free training while others don’t; make sure you ask for training if your practice needs it.

Specialty Specific

Not all specialties are created equal, so why must their software be generic? Basic EHR software works well and good for general practice and most specialties, but doctors have complained about specialty specific not being available in the market. The specialty software’s have inbuilt recording systems that make specialty practices functioned efficiently. Only a few vendors provide specialty-specific software, so there aren’t many to choose from. But the more vendors are cottoning on to the demand and there should be more options in the near future.

Support

Support is a major issue most practices have with their current vendors. A good support team can make small glitches to major roadblocks easy to maneuver while a bad one will just make things worse. Some vendors provide support as part of the plan you’re already paying for, while others charge extra for support. Scout the market, read reviews or just ask point blank if there will be a special support team assigned to each practitioner and whether you’ll be charged for the service.

Hidden Cost

There are varying price lists out there, some offer free services, while others charge an arm and a leg for specialty services. Either way there will be hidden costs that you might get to know about later. Fix your budget and talk to vendors you interview about hidden costs within the contract and whether services such as training and support are free.

Mobility

Smartphones have changed the dynamics of mobile usage. Handheld devices are easy to carry around and can be used for any number of uses. Most people are ditching the cumbersome PC for a handheld device. Doctors mostly use iPads or Tablets in the examination room to take down patient symptoms, check the history and note down the prescription, so it’s imperative that the vendor has a mobile application that is synced with all the mobile devices being used in the practice.

Kareo Clinical EMR Software

Markets Trends to Be Aware Of

Like anything else, the EMR software industry is also subject to constant changes. From new technology to legalities and governing bodies, everything is constantly changing. Here are some of the changes I think it would do well for you to keep track of.

Meaningful Use Changes

At a recent health care conference Andy Slavitt, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services declared that Meaningful Use was over, and would be replaced by the end of this year with something better. But a deeper look into the claims revealed that meaningful use would very much still be there, only much improved.

The new measures aim to make the reporting and benchmark for reaching the required reports much easier and laxer than under Meaningful Use, along with other changes. Yet it is safe to say that none of these changes will make an impact until the end of 2017.

Cloud-Based Services

Recent research found that only 25% of practitioners are interested in a web-based model and only 50% are willing to have it as an initial model that eventually transitions to cloud-based. Cloud-based EMR software cuts down on steep upfront costs for client-servers and can be hosted on any device that has a web-browser. It’s no surprise that more and more vendors are transitioning to cloud-based software because the industry demands are changing.

Latest on Cardiology EMR Software

Cardiology EMR Software Must-Haves 2020

dicardiology.com has listed out the most important features to look for in an EMR Software for 2020. Defined as key trends this article talks about how this new world of Artificial Intelligence and Analytics is going to bring about revolutionary changes in the healthcare IT industry and how top EMR Systems are focusing on these trends to improve practice management.

Apple Watch Series 4 will have a huge impact on cardiology practices

Dr. Henry Borkowski, Clinical Cardiologist, and Chief Medical Officer at OmniMD, one of the leading Cardiology EMRs, said in an interview that, the next generation Apple Watch will have a huge impact on cardiology practices. The watch has the ability to provide a single lead electrocardiogram (ECG) rhythm strip with an algorithm for detecting heart rate as well as whether the rate is too fast, too slow, regular or irregular. The feature will revolutionize cardiology practices, save a lot of time, and improve the point of care.