Electronic Medical Records for Physical Therapists 101: The Five Ws of EMR Today, in an era of interdisciplinary information studies

and utilization, new trends in health and medical practices have begun and continued to emerge, either through discovery or innovation, by remarkable individuals who are experts in their profession. As a result, healthcare providers coordinate with each other for the patient's care, and to make clinical decisions with information tools that assist and guide training. Healthcare providers like physical therapists need an effective way of ensuring fast, proper and accurate coordination and exchange of data with other healthcare providers using Electronic Medical Records (EMR). When did EMR start? According to the American Physical Therapy Association, electronic medical record systems have been in use for more than 30 years, though less than 10% of hospitals then had a full functioning system as of 2006. By 2008 then, it was reported to have increased, having 38.4% of office-based practitioners through both partially and fully electronic medical records systems. The findings also showed that the systems were minimally functional, limiting the used features to prescription and test orders, image results and clinical notes. What exactly is an EMR? The American Physical Therapy Association clearly defines: EMR (electronic medical record): An electronic record of health-related information on an individual that can be created, gathered, managed, and consulted by authorized clinicians and staff within a single health care organization. Let us then dissect the meaning. Therefore, when you mean electronic record, these are paperless, efficient databases, which are ready for utilization. You create the patient record while you are working with the patient. This is achieved by documenting and writing the condition of the patient, doing cross-examinations and comparisons with other cases. Who benefits from EMR? An EMR system should be able to provide immediate electronic access by authorized users to personinformation to inform decisions; develop the quality, safety, and efficiency of patient care; and support efficient processes for health care delivery. Basically, there are two persons who will benefit from an EMR. The first is the recipient/patient, who gets to be assessed as well as compared to other cases and then the physical therapists themselves. Suggestion: Give more details on the benefits they can get. Why should I use an EMR? EMR benefits include the simplification of meaningful health information and dissemination of clients/patient data to improve clinical decisions and data integration between different healthcare providers. Where can I find EMR services?

There are many physical therapy electronic medical record System software providers which offer tips, hints, and guides as well as free trials that will effectively serve your needs. To find an efficient EMR company, make sure to research price, reputation and customer service experiences. Be able to assess, analyze and choose the right EMR company for your practice.

Sources: (http://www.apta.org/EHR/Guide/Decision/ Retrieved 2/23/2012) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_medical_record#cite_note-17 Retrieved 2/23/2012) (http://www.nuesoft.com/blog/are-more-doctors-adopting-ehrs/ Retrieved 2/23/2012)

e-PT: Benefits Benefits of Electronic Physical Therapy Documentation Does searching for a certain file on medical records take most of your time? Are you looking for an alternative solution that will cease spending a lot of money consuming papers on your medical inventories all over again? If you share the same experience as most physical therapists do, then what are you waiting for? The search is over. Now is the time to keep up with the pace and innovate. Historically, paper-based records have been in existence and use for a long time and the ongoing conversion to computer-based records has been relatively slow, for over two decades in western healthcare systems. In this case, computerized information systems have not realized to a certain extent, the similar degree of dissemination in healthcare as that seen in other sectors such as business, transportation and commercial industries. Furthermore, utilization has been greatly diverse in every region and country and in many cases has limited itself around local systems designed for local use. Now, with the advent of electronic medical records (EMR) system, electronic physical therapy documentation is now available and easy to comprehend. The new system offers the following features as stated below: The provision of an all-in-one data source file which can be easily shared, regularly updated, absolutely precise, and quickly accessible will enable practitioners to actually manage critical information needed replacing the traditional paper-based medical records which can be at times inadequate, fragmented, complex to read and to find. This new system saves your space, time and organizational inventory resources. Your clinical decision-making has been improved and taken to greater heights as an automated, streamlined and personally configured application of workflow is applied. Strategically, through the right information, at the right time, and in the right format, you obtain and utilize three components that respectively make up the electronic physical therapy documentation structure. You can use these as inputs for decision support programs in many ways, such as a summary for quality development, and a solution to clinical research questions and surveys as well as quality metrics coverage. The exceptional ability to provide you an integrated support for a wide-ranging distinct healthcare activities including assessment support, monitoring, electronic prescribing, electronic referrals, laboratory ordering and results display is readily available at a glance in your computer and the click of your mouse. In addition, it can provide similar documentation for transactions and reimbursement. Keeping, maintaining data and information trail for further quality research and analysis such as medical monitoring, evaluation and surveillance service is now manageable than before. The support is now ready for all ongoing physical therapy education ready for your exploration and use. With superior consumer care and enhanced coordination among the healthcare provider of the same patient, facilitating and providing notifications as well as instructions to both physical therapy providers and patients encourage shared decision-making between them. Lastly and most importantly, is the capacity to attain cost reduction and savings. This is a result of increasing your income while deducting unnecessary consumption, redundancy of work, and workload of the physical therapist.

In conclusion, the use of electronic medical record (EMR) documentation together with evidence-based practice is feasible, as it combines patient values and conditions with the best available evidence, clinical expertise and decision support, combined with knowledge and specific information on patients. Together through properly, intelligently, timely examined and presented through electronic documentation, it enhances health and health care service, improving incomes and outcomes. Sources: The Benefits of EHR Systems (http://www.apta.org/EHR/Guide/Decision/ Retrieved 2/23/2012 11:28 pm) Benefits of EMRs (http://www.openclinical.org/emr.html Retrieved 2/24/2012 1:28 am)

EMRs: Innovative Solutions for Physical Therapists of Today Have a physical therapy practice? Get an electronic medical record system now! Picture this out. You are one busy therapist with a plethora of patients flocking in and out your clinic. You take time tending to their needs, finding solutions to their complications and taking note of every data you can extract from them, collecting information, writing medical records and making clinical decisions from each and every one of them. You pile all the papers and then stack them up in the storage rack. Am I right that this might sound heavy? Then how much more if you tried to search for some old clinical records of a patient and the one you are trying to look for lies missing behind amassed documents? You will then need to spend time looking for all of these and checking each of them out just to make sure you havent left any page behind, right? This does not only hamper your capacity to do more, it slows it. While factoring the time and energy as well as the possibilities such as being unable to find it at the right time placed you into a dilemma. You are then at a loss now and might be starting to devise of a way to solve this gridlock. What I am going to do? Fret no more since there is actually an easy solution that seeks not only to do the entire searching for you, but also to let you multitask your data gathering, compilation and documentation at the control of your fingertips. The electronic medical record system, recognized more as EMR, is waiting here for you to utilize and eventually let you meet all your needs in medical computing especially in the field of physical therapy. It does not only improve the speed of collecting health information and data, it organizes it into a system that can facilitate diagnoses and treatments through results management, which in turn will support you in clinical decision-making. With computerized administrative tools, such as scheduling, classification and reporting systems, electronic medical report documentation systems will greatly improve your work efficiency and provide more timely service not only to you but also to your patients with patient support and education component. It will be doing multitasking for you, so that you may be able to do more, for your profession and for your patients. As a give and take system, it encourages input, creates output, provides space for feedback and allows the ability to do feed forwarding which in turn empower the medical practitioner with tedious process of continuous medication. As the search of an innovative physical therapist for better ways to serve clients who undergo alternative clinical support, this is definitely a must need investment to progress and be able to get in advance of the other players the medical industry. As the saying goes, two heads are better than one. It is the same with a thriving physical therapist like you, empowered with an electronic medical records system solution ready and prepared to be operated by your thorough knowledge. With this, your physical therapy treatments will never be the same old process but a new and vibrant one again. Sources: Why should I adopt an EHR System? (http://www.apta.org/EHR/Guide/Decision/ Retrieved 2/23/2012 2:54 am)

The essential eight for choosing your own EMR system Have you taken up a stand to be committed to progress? Have you decided to upgrade your health services by opting to digitalize your medical records system? Do not worry. Here is a quick checklist which can serve as your guide when you conduct your search for a comprehensive and effective electronic medical records (EMR) system for your physical therapy clinic. "The eight essential competencies that EHRs should possess are: Consistent Health information and data system. Having instant access to key information is quite important and it is the first- such as patients' diagnoses, allergies, lab test results, and medications - would improve the caregivers' ability to make thorough clinical decisions in a timely manner. A lot of electronic medical records systems (EMR) store the information that you enter in one way, and offer a variety of presentation and reporting options. The capacity of the EMR to give several presentation preferences is a potent tool so make sure that this basic feature are included.

Reliable Result management. The capability for the service provider contributing in the care of a patient in various situations to swiftly access new and previous assessment results would increase patient safety and the efficiency of care. Therefore, it is imperative that the results produced are reliable and accurate. The integrity of your clinical center as well as your own physical therapy expertise will be based on this management of results. Make sure to rely only on credible electronic medical record system solutions provider.

Exceptional Order management. The ability to enter and store orders for prescriptions, tests, and other services in a computer-based system should enhance legibility, reduce duplication, and increase the speed with which orders are executed.

Effective Decision support. Using prompt notices and alerts, digital decision-support systems would help advance compliance with best medical practices, making sure that regular screenings and other preemptive and pro-active practices are considered, possible drug interactions are identified, and diagnoses and treatments are facilitated in an accurate manner.

Cutting-edge Electronic communication and connectivity. Well-organized, safe, and readily accessible communication among providers and patients would improve the continuity of care, increase the timeliness of diagnoses and treatments, and decrease the rate of recurrence of adversative events.

Distinctive Patient support. The EMR system solutions must be able to provide this effective tool that aids in the literacy of the patients, allowing them to access to their health archives, provide interactive patient

education, and help them carry out home-monitoring and self-testing can improve control of protracted disorders and conditions.

Efficient Administrative processes. These administrative tools embedded at the heart of the program is effective in providing inventory and accounting processes, such as scheduling systems, which would greatly improve hospitals' and clinics' efficiency and provide more timely service to patients. This includes the procedures of creating billings, referrals, letter templates and pre-populated printed EMR documentation materials and other clerical information.

Quick Reporting. Automated file and data storage that employs uniform data standards will enable your health care organization to respond more quickly to local, international, governmental or private reporting requirements, including those that support patient safety and security as well as observation of diseases.

Source: Key Capabilities of an Electronic Health Record System (http://www.openclinical.org/emr.html Retreived 2/25/2012)

Usages of EMRs in Physical Therapy Practice Electronic medical records and their use in a physical therapy practice A physical therapy treatment center is a demanding workplace with a lot of day-to-day issues and circumstances to manage. In order then for a successful physical therapist to best render their service to every patient that has a different need, the clinician must, need an electronic medical record solution that integrates well with other office and document management systems, including secure electronic medical records (EMR) management, user-friendly scheduling and advanced medical billing features, document management, sample letter templates and much more. In order to improve workflow movement and lessen production costs, the management system is fully integrated to assist the medical practitioner by making almost every office task at ease, quicker and more precise. Physical therapy system software proposes a comprehensive, protected, user-friendly and adaptable electronic medical records (EMR) and organizational management to health centers. All-in-one File and Database Management Center Among the favorable services and features included in electronic medical records (EMR) is the shift from a complex paper-based to an easier paperless health clinic, through batch scanning modules. With the needs of a physical therapy clinic in mind, the electronic medical records (EMR) system delivers features like sample templates, automatically-prepared physical therapy billing codes, letters and others as given by the service provider. The physical therapy management software can be a total electronic medical office that will provide file and office management solutions to help physical therapists focus on the most essential aspect of their practice, which is fundamentally helping patients. Creating Records through Multiple Methods The electronic medical records (EMR) system software provides these features to physical therapists. In development, the needs of multiple physical therapies are researched and working therapists and staff works directly with it to understand their office requirements and be able to make it operate according to their specified requirements in clinical decision making and support such as templates, dictation, transcription and handwriting. The system makes sure then that the information that is entered on its database is analyzed and customized to the needs priority and operational preferences of the physical therapist. Security Features and Advanced Validation Techniques The physical therapy electronic medical records (EMR) system software delivers time-saving and costeffective solutions to your file and database management needs. With Electronic medical records (EMR), you are able to add additional security to your important patient files and conform to required standard health information security policies and guidelines. Customer Service and Support Electronic medical records (EMR) system are delivered and fully configured to physical therapy practice in a ready-to-go state, limiting the customization that physical therapists need to do to get started. Implementation, training and follow up support services by certified specialists are provided by the service provider. It also meets the latest industry standards and certifications.

Source: (http://www.emr-ehrs.com/physical-therapy-electronic-health-records.php Retrieved 2/24/2012 12:46 am)