In most cases, the real issue is that doctors and staff were not properly trained or did not invest the time to learn how to maximize the full potential of their systems.

Think about your onboarding/training experience. Was it chaotic and did it take place in small blocks of time, sometimes weeks apart, amongst a full schedule of patients with no “practice” in between?
Did everyone do the bare minimum “‘homework” in order to fulfill the requirements of your software account manager in order to complete  one “module” and move onto the next?

After a front desk training session, were all of your staff members confident in their ability to input patient demographic and insurance information, check eligibility and benefit details, record the referral source and schedule an appointment with reason for visit?
I didn’t think so. . . 

When you sat down to complete your first day of chart notes were you at a complete loss even though you followed along during your training sessions?
You are not alone there. . . 

If any of this sounds familiar, I urge you to reach out to your EHR and ask for additional training. Or, if you and your team are comfortable with the basics but want to see if there are functions you are not utilizing that could increase productivity, ASK.

Last week I met with a practice that after years of frustration with their EHR’s antiquated reports, began working with a customer relations specialist. This individual was able to update their system, teach them how to run the reports they were looking for, and turn on their bi-directional interface for sending requisitions and receiving lab results electronically (no printed demographic sheet or paper order required).