Health IT could be key to addressing physician shortages

Will chiropractic EHR help physicians meet more patients?

Will chiropractic EHR help physicians meet more patients?

If you've heard some of the horror stories about chiropractic EHR implementation gone amok, or caught a glimpse of the new string of requirements that make up meaningful use stage 2, you have every reason to worry that introducing this technology to your practice could do more harm than good. You may even continue to delay the adoption process to spare the expense and hassle that this shift could bring.

Indeed, in light of reports that some doctors blame undecipherable EHR software for a loss in productivity, it's only natural to be concerned about what this step could mean for you and whether your patients will truly benefit. However, as we've noted in previous posts, the truth is that not all EHR software has been designed with the end user in mind, and that can make all the difference when it comes to your day-to-day operations.

When you invest in chiropractic EHR and other forms of health IT that are intuitive and adaptable to your workflow, you will likely find that these innovations can ease a substantial burden in terms of the time and energy you devote to administrative tasks. Recently, researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and The Commonwealth Fund released findings that the widespread adoption of EHR, telemedicine and other technologies may even bridge the perilous gap between the number of patients needing treatment and the trained physicians who can help.

"[Professor Jonathan] Weiner and colleagues estimate that when electronic health records and other e-health systems are fully implemented in just 30 percent of community-based physicians' offices, U.S. doctors will be able to meet the demands of about 4-9 percent more patients than they can today due to increased efficiency," a university press release states.

So why is there such disparity in the reports on EHR use and overall efficacy? This may well be due to the disparity between EHR software providers, the product they offer, and the degree of support and training they provide.

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