EHR for Nephrology: Why Providers are Fed Up

As a technologically driven workflow becomes the standard for most practices, specialty providers are realizing how a lot of software is falling short of their needs. Each specialty focuses on something different. Primary care physicians focus on the everyday care of their patients, but they refer their patients to specialists when their needs become more specific than what the PCP is able to offer. If a specialist works with patients with specialty needs, then they need specialty-specific software. Unfortunately for many medical specialists, the software that their practice is using is not fit to their specific needs.

For example, Nephrologists are often stuck using incompatible software built on too broad of a spectrum that makes it difficult for them to complete their work efficiently and effectively. The good news is that there are vendors that understand this frustration and have designed specialty-specific EHR for Nephrology. A quality vendor of EHR for Nephrology should offer these three tools.

Tools to Look for in an EHR for Nephrology:    

1)    Automated Dialysis Rounding

Nephrologists must travel to multiple locations each day to meet with their dialysis patients. This can become quickly complicated if the day of the provider is not organized effectively. A lot of non-specific EHR technology fails to understand this need of the nephrologist. This causes them to have to organize the information themselves, slowing them down. A quality example of EHR for Nephrology offers automated dialysis rounding to ensure that the Nephrologists knows exactly where they need to go. This feature of EHR for Nephrology makes sure the provider knows exactly where they need to be at the beginning of their day, improving their workflow and saving them much needed time.

2)    Automated Dialysis Tracking

Billing for Nephrology is much more complicated than many of the other medical specialties. Patients are categorized by level of visit each month and it is important that providers readily know which patients are at which level. An average EHR that is not specialty-specific does not include the tools Nephrologists need to know which patients are at which level. An EHR for Nephrology should include automated dialysis tracking so that providers can identify the level of their dialysis patient with a click of their mouse. This eliminates the excel document that many Nephrologists traditionally track visit levels with themselves. Patients no longer slip through the cracks with an EHR for Nephrology. It helps providers optimize their revenue by helping them stay organized and ensuring each patient is receiving their comprehensive monthly visit.

3)    Batch Billing

Nephrologists see more patients on average than other specialists. This includes their dialysis patients, but also their regularly performed office visits. The traditional all-in-one Electronic Health Record makes it so Nephrologists have to file each claim individually. This is one of the largest time-wasting aspects of a provider’s day, and it takes even longer on average for the Nephrology Specialist. With an EHR for Nephrology, Nephrologists should have access to batch billing if they are using a quality vendor. EHR for Nephrology enables providers to avoid this single-claim processing time-waster by allowing them to address multiple claims at the same time. Batch billing with EHR for Nephrology automatically sorts claims by the level of visit and insurance provider. After they are sorted into these groups, the Nephrology provider is able to file claims in masses, hundreds of claims with a single click. This streamlines the provider’s workflow while ensuring they are receiving timely payments for each of their visits, maximizing revenue.

Nephrology providers must step away from the all-in-one EHR that fails to meet their needs and instead partner with a vendor of EHR for Nephrology. By utilizing specialty-specific EHR for Nephrology, Nephrologists gain access to incredible tools like automatic dialysis rounding, automatic dialysis tracking, and batch billing. To learn more about a vendor that offers these tools, click here.