Electronic health records are intended to enable high-quality, safe, and effective medical care. The patient record benefits from accurate and thorough recording when medical transcribing is outsourced.
However, effective care coordination is necessary to enhance both patients' and providers' experiences with healthcare.
In order to provide safer and more effective care, coordination, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Care (AHRQ), "involves purposefully planning patient care activities and sharing information across all of the participants responsible for a patient's care." Participants in this effort include the patients' families.
Managing the employees and other resources needed to carry out all necessary patient care tasks is known as organizing care, and doing so frequently entails sharing information among those responsible for different aspects of care.
In order to deliver safe, appropriate, and efficient patient care, care coordination calls on providers to be aware of the patient's requirements and preferences in advance and to communicate this information to the proper parties at the appropriate time. Electronic health record implementation and optimization are essential for healthcare providers.
Why Care Coordination is Important?
The ability of the healthcare system to efficiently coordinate patient care must be ensured for the following reasons:
- Primary care locations and specialized facilities have various procedures, and current healthcare systems are frequently fragmented.
- The process of receiving care, including referral to a specialist, making appointment schedules, and what to do following the expert consultation, can be confusing for patients.
- Specialists are frequently not given appropriate information regarding the results of tests and clear justifications for the referral. It frequently happens that referral visit information is not shared with primary care doctors.
- As a result of referral employees dealing with numerous processes and insufficient information, care is not as effective as it should be.
While well-designed, targeted care coordination is a key objective for the American healthcare system, the AHRQ notes that several challenges must be overcome. The EHR can be helpful in this situation since it streamlines and organizes patient health data and lessens care fragmentation by guaranteeing that all doctors caring for the patient have real-time access to this information.
How EHRs Support Care Coordination and Enhance Patient Results?
Information for specialists is more readily available: For primary and specialized care physicians, improved communication can lead to better patient care. Every practitioner will have access to the same, most recent patient data thanks to EHRs. This is crucial for patients who are:
- receive care from several doctors
- move between different types of care
- receive emergency medical assistance
- Medical errors and pointless tests can be decreased with the availability of precise patient information. An expert may also benefit from learning more about a relevant ailment being managed by another specialty.
Making wise therapeutic decisions in emergency situations:
Emergency medical service (EMS) providers are aware of the importance of coordinated care and wise decision-making. The likelihood of adverse drug reactions, hospital readmissions, and threats to patient safety can be decreased by integrating patient health data into EMS provider workflows and sharing prehospital data with other EMS and inpatient hospital providers. It can aid paramedics in taking quick action and stabilizing patients until they are transferred to the hospital ED.
Enhances Long-Term and Post-Acute Care (LTPAC) care outcomes:
An estimated 70% of Americans reaching 65 expect to require long-term care services at some time in their lives, with many also needing post-acute care, according to the office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.
To make decisions about patient care that enhance patient safety and reduce avoidable hospital readmissions, ED visits, length of stay, and other adverse events, LTPAC institutions require timely, complete, and accurate patient records access.
There are numerous advantages to integrating patient EHRs and medication histories within LTPAC facilities. Ensures that providers have information about harmful drug reactions and subsequent readmissions, which enhances care coordination.
lessens or avoids the harmful effects of medication mistakes for patients aids in lowering the danger of expensive hospital readmissions. EHRs can also promote patients' engagement in their care, increasing their capacity to take part in care coordination. Access to digital medical information by both patients and physicians can encourage shared decision-making, which is crucial for treating chronic illnesses like obesity, diabetes, and asthma.
Patients will take better care of themselves if they have access to their own medical records. They will be able to make more educated judgments and comprehend the directions from their healthcare providers as a result. To engage patients in care coordination, particularly those with low digital health literacy, it is crucial to educate patients on how to use health data and patient portals.
Utilizing an EHR across the continuum of care has several advantages, including
- Enhanced information sharing leads to better provider integration.
- Listings of current and accessible medications and allergies.
- Order entry can be done on-site or off.
- The implementation of common patient treatment utilizing evidence-based medicine is made possible by the standardization of data, order sets, and care plans.
- By exchanging best practices and enabling specialized care through telemedicine rural healthcare professionals have access to experts.
- Studies on treatment and outcomes, as well as population management trend data.
- Disease management is more practical, quicker, and easier.
Healthcare providers need access to current and accurate patient information regardless of the setting if they are to improve care coordination using EHRs. Companies that provide medical transcription services are crucial in assuring the accuracy and thoroughness of digitally stored health information. For the several parties engaged in care coordination, they offer HIPAA-compliant, EHR-integrated medical transcribing services. Get in touch with iTranscipt360 now!