EHR Stuff: All-in-one or Buffet-style? It’s your choice!

I’m sure you know how hard it is to find a good practice management (PM) system (when I say “good”, I mean gets you paid” AND makes your office life easier, not harder).  But now your life has just gotten complicated again.  Now you are being told that you need to have and use an EHR in your office.  Ok, even if you don’t give a hoot about participating in meaningful use.  The fact still remains that Medicare is threatening that if you are not meaningfully using an EHR by 2015 they are going to assess you a 1% penalty, with an additional percent being added each year up to 5% by 2020.  (Of course this could all change with the current state of healthcare and the influx or repeal of Obambacare.)  It is true.  There is a lot on the table with so many variables in play.  It’s more like a game of 52-card pick up than any organized card game.  (Seriously, have you ever tried to play Poker with someone who is playing Go Fish?)  Plus there are additional regional variations for Medicaid and third-party payers (Euchre anyone?). 

Ok, now that you are as flustered as I am, let me give you the good news—at Genius, we are working for you, not against you.  We truly do care and we do honestly believe that comprehensive doesn’t have to mean complicated.  Whether you are looking for a certified EHR system now to complete meaningful use or you are just looking at getting your toes wet.  We are here for you!  There is no single solution to the EHR dilemma, but there can be an answer and a solution for you.  There are two main approaches to shopping for and getting an EHR:  1) the all-in-one solution and 2) the buffet solution. 

Let’s talk about the differences between EHR and PM first
Practice management software and EHR software have different goals in mind, and have different outcomes and results as well.  This is especially true with “meaningful use”.  Again, I hear you.  “But good coding and documentation is necessary for good billing, you’ve told us so, so, doesn’t that mean that their goals are really the same?”  From your point of view as a provider, yes, together the end outcome should be the same—to get paid properly and better.  But from the EHR and the PM software programmers and developers point of view they are both different animals with different needs that fit different office niches. 

The goal of EHR is to electronically capture and maintain your patient records for action and interaction with your patients (i.e. What’s their history?, What’s their complaint, What did you diagnose as their problem?, What was their treatment?, What was their outcome?, What is next?).   The goal of a good PM system is to automate your office life and make it easier WHILE GETTING YOU PAID.  It takes mundane, time consuming, and resource consuming tasks that are important and automates them.   PMs help your office to do more with less, while still helping you and the patients to a paid outcome. 
So an EHR’s primary task is to record and store information (a big filing and storage cabinet of data, that you can easily access and use).  A PM’s primary task is to automate office tasks (appointments, phone calls, reports, billing, etc.) and get you paid.  Different.  But if you put the right combination together you will get the overall desired long-term goal outcomes you are looking for.

The All-In-One Solution
An all-in-one solution is pretty much what you would expect—a practice management and EHR solution together.  A lot of people feel that this may be the only or best way for them.  A real pain in the butt, if you don’t already have their software as it means complete conversion and a new learning curve.  I can hear you over there saying, “But it’s an ‘all-in-one system’, everything will play nicer together, right?    Support, development, and costs will all work together, right?”  In a perfect world this is all true.  However, many times one could argue that the all-in-one solution is actually the buffet solution with a red ribbon holding it together (like fraternal twins vs. identical Siamese twins). 

So there are different ways to get an all-in-one solution:  build both together (from the ground up), buy up a little fish and take them over (ex. A big EHR company has a good EHR, but doesn’t have a PM – so they buy up a little guy PM that can’t do their own EHR and voile! …or, vice versa.), a couple of mid-weight companies that are each really good at what they do get together and work together on how to connect their systems for a smooth completely interactive system that will help their clients have the best of both worlds, an EHR or PM company knows they need the other and tries to create the bare minimum of the other, so say they have it.

Now, if a company is good enough, chooses wisely enough, and actually works development and connectivity together, well a twin is a twin.  But you could also get a sub-standard, doofer of a system.  So, many people with try to go with option 2.

Here at Genius we have nearly three decades of experience with healthcare automation and PM systems.  We are all about getting you paid and adding EHR for you was (and is) a big deal to us.  We’re not so big that we buy little fish and offer you a fish fry.  We also care about our clients too much to offer anything that might be sub-standard.  But we have worked jointly with some companies to give you the best of both worlds, making them so tightly integrated that they seem like they were developed together (WritePad for chiropractic is such a system. Worked on jointly and integrated so tightly over several years that it is practically seamless).  With all of our experience, we have also begun to and been developing our own EHR system (our new touch screen EHR for podiatry has been built from the ground up as a fully integrated, certified complete, partner to our eTHOMAS PM system).

The Buffet Solution 
The buffet solution is when you have a PM or an EHR already, but need the other.  Or you have an EHR, but need a separate e-prescribing, appointments, or note taking feature (yes, sometimes to get a complete EHR, you also need to have additional modules and things from the buffet line to have all of the features you want). 

You love getting paid and you love your Genius THOMAS system and don’t want to give it up (see why we love you and why we care?).  But, for your specialty or office, you may have found your own EHR solution that you like very much and think will do what’s best for you.  What to do?  (Exhausting huh?)

Did I mention before that we are positively GENIUS?  We are.  And we have a solution for those of you that love your THOMAS but have found your own piece of EHR nirvana.  We are all about solutions, especially smart ones- it’s in our name “Genius Solutions”.   We connect and work with most major EHR software applications (and many small ones).  We can help you continue to get paid, while towing the government meaningful use line.  With our THOMAS Export program THOMAS is one of the nicest playing kids on the block.

Whether you want to go all-in-one, or nibble at things on the buffet, we can help.  No matter what your office dilemma, we have a solution for you.  If you are ready to talk about EHR and start working on your implementation plan, or you have questions, we hope that you will call us at Genius Solutions.  Remember that we have a solution for you and we are always ready to back you up with our world class customer service and technical support. We’ve been in automated office healthcare solutions for almost thirty years and we have the experience to help you.

Ready to talk about EHR?
Call us today for a free consultation...800 645 0955

Genius Solutions, Inc.
7177 Miller Dr.
Warren, MI 48092
800 645 0955 Fax 586 751 9230
www.ethomasmedical.com
e-mail us at sales2@geniussolutions.com