We did it! Nearly all US hospitals have demonstrated meaningful use of certified EHR technology and self-employed physicians are close behind. So why isn’t everyone celebrating?
The truth is, electronic medical records didn’t turn out to be everything we hoped for. In fact, the switch to digital has been the cause of a lot of headaches industry-wide, especially for providers.
Physicians are spending more time on administrative tasks and less time with patients. Many providers don’t receive adequate training to optimize their use of EHR technology. Even if they do, pointing and clicking on a computer screen is not why they pursued medicine.
Frustration with EHR interfaces leads many doctors to simply document the clinical story in the EHR’s free form text field, resulting in incomplete records that impact reimbursement. Whether you’re feeling burnt out or just concerned about your bottom line, your clinic’s current EHR situation probably isn’t ideal.
Rather than switching vendors or spending your work hours dreaming about a pre-digital past, consider this: lots of providers are using EHR-enhancing apps.
While most major EHR vendors have implemented the app ecosystem model, it all started with the athenahealth Marketplace. In 2011, athenahealth realized they could leverage the innovation of entrepreneurial software developers to enhance how providers connect to their EHR. The result was Marketplace, an online space where health care providers can explore innovative apps that connect with athenaNet.
If athenahealth isn’t your EHR vendor, don’t despair. Many of the Marketplace apps work with other platforms as well.
One benefit of searching on Marketplace is that athenahealth vets the thousands of developers that sign up to explore their public APIs. As Senior Vice President of Network Services Jonathan Porter told HealthITAnlaytics, “Before any developer can receive approval as a certified partner, they have to demonstrate that their applications produce a measurable benefit.”
But don’t take their word for it. Search the athenahealth Marketplace or read on about three five-star apps that could help transform your EHR into what you’ve wanted all along.
1. Relaymed
Manual EHR entry of lab results from paper is a laborious and time consuming process taking numerous mouse clicks and keystrokes, adding significant cost and risk of errors. Relaymed optimizes workflow efficiency – no clicks, no typing, no hassle – enormously improving labor productivity and quality of care, with human error eliminated and results instantly available in athenaClinicals®.
All a user needs to do is run the test on the device and the result will be automatically and instantly available in athenaClinicals, with no work from staff necessary.
- Provider orders test in athenaClinicals.
- User enters Medical Record Number (MRN) on device.
- User runs test on device.
- Result instantly available to provider in athenaClinicals.
Practices currently using: 40+
Rating: 5 Starts (2 Reviewers)
What providers are saying: “We are very satisfied Relay Med customers. It does exactly what we need it to do, no more, no less.”
2. InHealth Clinical Documentation Solutions
InHealthCDS offers dictation/transcription solutions with full integration for both athenaNet and athenaOne users. These solutions are designed to accomplish the following:
- Flexibility – Physicians can choose how they capture their dictation to incorporate within Athena.
- Efficiency – Provider’s dictation is quickly captured and transcription completed allowing physicians the ability to cut down the amount of time currently spent documenting patient care.
- Increased Productivity – Our solutions provide efficiencies within a physician’s workflow enabling them to choose to see more patients throughout their day, thus increasing revenue or the choice to end their day earlier.
Practices currently using: 40+
Rating: 5 Starts (2 Reviewers)
What providers are saying: “We have been an In-Health CDS client for over 3 years. Their transcription services have proven to be reliable, efficient and excellent customer service.”
3. Mobius Clinic
Mobius Clinic is the revolutionary app that’s proven to eliminate up to 90 percent of keyboarding and computer distraction from every patient visit. It turns the phone in your pocket into ‘a remote control for your EMR.’ Nearly every task – from recording vital signs to updating charts – is instantly sent to Athena in real-time with no typing, writing, or manual image uploading. You get back hours of precious time for medical, not clerical tasks.
But Mobius does more. Their next-generation medical dictation system called “Scribe” instantly places your words into Athena without mistakes or omissions – from anywhere at any time. Altogether, Mobius reduces liability, increases insurance approval rates and enables more stress-free interaction between providers and patients. You can input twice the data in half the time.
Practices currently using: 50+
Rating: 5 Starts (9 Reviewers)
What providers are saying: “I can honestly say that Mobius has helped everyone including the doctor keep organized and finish tasks quickly. In my experience this app works very well with Athena, in that we can input patient data quickly and easily during clinical hours.”