Are most behavioral health organizations happy with their electronic health record system (EHR)? Recently, Open Minds conducted a National Behavioral Health EHR Survey. They asked over 8000 behavioral health provider organizations, including small ($1-5M annual revenue) organizations as well as large organizations (over $5M). The four areas they reviewed were the clinical, scheduling, billing, and reporting/analytics functions of EHR's. Their results were broken into four categories:
1. Above 25% of providers were going to purchase an EHR soon, including 21% who wanted to switch their EHR. Of those agencies that had not purchased an EHR yet, the main reason was that it was too expensive.
2. Of those who had an implemented EHR, almost 2/3 of the responders stated it took between 3-12 months to fully implement their EHR systems. The main reason that those systems were not fully implemented was that the EHR's functionality was not what the customer needed.
3. While over 53% of the organizations stated have stayed with their current EHR because it meets their needs, the rest found other reasons to not change. 25% of companies stated concerns with implementation challenges, such as more cost and staff time.
4. Organizations stated that the functionality of their EHR was not meeting their company’s needs.
The major concerns in this area were the EHR's ability to have client portals, mobile functionality, value-based reporting, electronic visit verification, and telehealth capabilities. While the systems met companies’ clinical, scheduling, and billing needs, reporting and analytics still needed improvement.
Why the dissatisfaction with EHR’s?
There is a trend among EHR's to decide what is important to behavioral health organizations. For most EHR customers, offering the basics of documentation, scheduling, and billing gives them the primary tools they need. But when it comes to analyzing the data, making sense of the customer’s population, and running reports, EHR’s fall short. One large county currently in California can’t run reports because its nationwide EHR can’t run them, hasn’t been able to for months, and doesn’t see a timetable for correction. Another EHR is asked frequently by its customers to assist with obtaining data and is told, “We just can’t do that.” And finally, when customers want to add functionality to their systems, such as clinical decision making or treatment software capabilities, EHR's simply aren’t listening.
The EHR industry seems to be dictating what customers need, rather than the other way around. But changing an EHR is liking moving; too complicated and hard to find another home. Should a customer be satisfied with an inept EHR? Hopefully, more behavioral health organizations will demand changes to their existing systems or look elsewhere. Otherwise, surveys like the one from Open Minds will continue to show how the EHR business doesn’t meet their client needs.
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PRAXES is a nationwide behavioral health software, consulting, and training company. No one in the behavioral health industry has a better reputation, and if you give us the chance, we’ll show you why! At PRAXES, our services improve the efficiency and structure of behavioral health agencies serving children and families nationwide. PRAXES brings over 45 years of administrative and clinical expertise. With more than 100 client companies nationwide, we offer the expertise to advance the quality of behavioral health services. We accomplish these goals through our new clinical decision software, our training of best practices, and helping companies meet regulatory standards. At PRAXES, we believe in being creative and fostering new ways to serve children and their families. Our vision is to empower the families our agencies serve with skills that not only improve their functioning, but help them to thrive in their everyday lives. When you give us the chance, you’ll be connected directly to our friendly staff, so you can expect immediate attention to your inquiry. So, don’t wait, call now!
Dan Thorne has unique perspectives on the field of mental health. As a clinician, he has had over 40 years of experience working with clients in the Southern California area. After obtaining his Bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Irvine, he worked with children in the Orange County Juvenile Hall. Here he honed his earliest techniques on at-risk children. After that, he obtained his Master’s degree in Counseling from California State University, Fullerton.
In the 1990’s, Dan turned his attention to the clinical and administrative side of behavioral health organizations. For three years, he was the Assistant Administrator of Starting Point, a chemical dependency facility in Costa Mesa, CA. In 2001, he took an opportunity to be the Director of Harbor View Community Services Center in Long Beach. When he arrived, the Center had only 80 clients and 13 staff. When he left, there were over 400 clients and 75 staff. Dan created several programs through their contract with the Los Angeles County Departments of Mental Health and Child and Family Services. Under his guidance, Harbor View became one of the leading providers of children’s services in Los Angeles County.
While improving the results of the client’s parents at the Center, Dan reflected on his experiences as a parent. His children themselves had special needs such as mental and intellectual challenges, and Dan knew the toll it takes on the parent. In order to help the child, the parent has to be healthy. From this concept, he created his parenting program. After years of refining it, teaching it to his staff at the Center, and then taking the results and comments from these efforts, he became the developer of the current PRAXES program. It is a culmination of Dan’s personal trials and tribulations as a parent along with empirical results and research of over 40 parenting programs.
Our vision at PRAXES is to advance the strength of parents and caregivers of children with special needs (mental health, intellectual, or physical) through education, support, and empowerment. Thus, they can live healthy and functional lives while caring for the child.
Apogee is a clinical decision software designed to help behavioral health practitioners with their treatment and patient engagement. It provides evidence-based and research-based components. Not only do they consist of elements from such practices as Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Seeking Safety, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, Functional Behavior Analysis, but also the Intensive Models for Parents, Youth, and Children.
PRAXES has over 30 years of accreditation experience. We know what it takes to get your organization accredited. Whether it’s Joint Commission, CARF, or COA, our team can provide an evaluation of your current status and review the standards which need improvements. We will assist you with the policies, documentation, and training required to be accredited.
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