Certification Programs In EHR (Electronic Health Records)

It seems that there is a misconception among some that knowledge on electronic health records specialist program alone would do to build a career in this field. Obviously, the knowledge about the program is an advantage but the knowledge without any certifications would be of no use. If you have any national certifications to prove that you have proper knowledge about the program, your career prospectus would be more certain and higher. To be precise, the national certification is an added advantage. It gives your recruiters the impression that you have the expertise and skills they are looking for. Certification programs in electronic health records specialist solutions equip a candidate with the skills and expertise for maintenance and operation of electronic health records. As you know, electronic health records are being widely used in private practice environments as well as public health care facilities.  They help the staff in managing the documents, processing patient data and more.

An Overview of the Certification Programs

During electronichealth records specialist certification programs, the candidates are taught how to handle patient data properly and without errors. They are taught medical office procedures, medical terminology, regulations and HIPAA rules. Certain certification programs provide the candidates with exposure to instructor demonstrations and lab exercises. During such exposure programs, the candidates are given opportunities to get familiar with the tools used in the lab exercises and instructor demonstrations. Obviously, these skills help the candidate to be more practical while using the EHR software program. It plays a crucial role in moulding the candidate to be more critical when he hits the floor.

Furthermore, during the certification program, the candidates are given video-based training. Such training sessions help the candidate to get a comprehensive idea about the software applications used for electronic health recording. Moreover, it helps the candidates to have a more independent idea about the program and consequently helps them develop their skills in a more personal and independent manner. In fact, these certification programs are entirely different from usual training sessions, which only provide the candidates theoretical knowledge.

If you are looking forward to getting a certification in electronic health records specialist program, make sure that you get one from a nationally or internationally recognized institution. Since there are many institutions offering such programs, chances are that you bump into an unrecognized institution. Therefore, take some time reviewing each institution offering the program in your locality and get your admission in a recognized one. 

EHR Software May Not Reduce Time Spent On Administrative Work For Doctors

Proponents for the use of Electronic Health Records (EHR) in the medical field have long argued that the use of such systems would considerably reduce the time doctors spend on administrative tasks. However, a recent survey shows that this might not be the case always. In fact, in some cases, even the reverse might be true.

Percentage of Time Spent on Administrative Work

A team of researchers from the Harvard Medical School and the City University of New York have been conducting a study on the implementation and the subsequent benefits of electronic health records in hospitals. Recently, they published their report in International Journal of Health Services. The researchers drew upon the data compiled during the 2008 Health Tracking Physician Survey. The survey sample consisted of 4,720 physicians clocking in a minimum of 20 hours of practice a week.

The data from this survey showed that on average, a doctor spent about 8.7 hours per week on administrative work. This amounts to 16.6 percent of their total working time. However, the figure for doctors using electronic health records was a bit higher at 17.2 percent. And, those, who were using both paper and EHR systems spent even more, at 18 percent. However, the data showed that doctors using only paper records spent only 15.5 percent of their time on administrative work.

In the report, the authors point out that since 2008, the survey period used for the report, many of these doctors have moved up from their small private practice facilities to big group practice organisations. According to the researchers, this would only increase the time spent on administrative work, since the bureaucracy in bigger organisations tend to be much more rampant. Processing of insurance claims and the necessary patient medical history records are actually eating into the most doctors’ valuable time. And, this would only increase even more in an electronic health records system. 

According to the authors, the reduction in time would not necessarily come as a result of implementing electronic medical record systems. For that, more work needs to be done in streamlining the medical insurance system currently in use. However, this does not mean that hospitals should stick to using the old paper system. The focus should be on hiring a team of medical billers and coders to reduce the burden on the doctors. Also, the Federal Government needs to do more to streamline the medical insurance processing system currently followed.