The benefits of specialty EHRs

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One of the best ways to benefit from your investment in an electronic health record system is choosing a software that was designed specifically for your specialty. Based on workflows and EMR system requirements for your practice, specialty EHRs make everyday documentation and patient care more efficient and less time-consuming. This is particularly true for practices that require exceptionally complex systems. Here are a few of the benefits that specialty EHRs provide.

Specific requirements 
Chances are that your practice's EHR system requirements vary drastically from those of other medical specialties. General EHR software can become cumbersome or lack the specific functions that you need.

  • General EHR software systems not only lack the operations and user options that you require, but these systems are also filled with more data than you need. For example, many practices find that they must complete required fields that do not apply to their specialty before moving to another screen.
  • General EHRs are physically incapable of exactly matching every specialty's particular need. If one small function is unavailable, it could make the entire system useless.
  • It can be beneficial to invest in software that has demonstrated acceptance in the marketplace for practices in your specialty to ensure that it is not lacking anything important.

Training time
Time is something that physicians usually do not have, so it is crucial to invest in a system that does not take extended time and effort to learn.

  • Even if general EMRs can be customized to meet specialists' requirements, adapting the software takes time.
  • The initial setup is usually followed by lengthy training sessions to learn how to navigate through the updated system. Specialty EHRs have everything your practice needs the minute you invest in it, allowing more time to get comfortable with your new system.

Familiarity and comfort
Every specialty has particular documents and forms they deal with on a daily basis. General EHRs force practices to adapt to generic forms. 

  • Specialty software includes the forms and templates you use most, so, although your system is new, you are still dealing with what you know.
  • Decision support functions also make for faster, more accurate diagnoses.
  • Specialty-based EHRs know your workflows and charting needs, enabling you to document your patient data in real time. This requires less time at the end of the day, as all of your chart notes will be complete.  

Therefore, you can save time, effort and money by choosing a specialty EHR system if you know that your practice requires functions that general systems cannot support.