If you’re a behavioral health provider planning to implement a new electronic health record (EHR) system, you have sophisticated needs.
Behavioral health providers play a crucial role in supporting patients who are experiencing life stressors and crises, mental health and substance use disorders, and stress-related physical symptoms. Addressing a wide range of issues and circumstances often requires a complex approach to treatment.
In this blog post, I’d like to take a closer look at behavioral health’s unique EHR requirements – and share some tips on how you can choose the right system to meet your specific needs.
WHAT CHALLENGES DO BEHAVIORAL HEALTH PROVIDERS FACE?
In order to determine what features to look for in an EHR, one must first understand the behavioral health setting and its challenges, which can include:
- Multiple care locations. While most acute care providers only see patients in a hospital or outpatient setting, behavioral health practitioners often provide care outside the walls of a medical facility. When treatment is provided at an outside location, such as the patient’s home or a shelter, these visits still need to be recorded in your EHR system.
- Diversity of conditions. When serving patients with mental and behavioral health disorders, providers encounter a broad spectrum of conditions that impact an individual’s emotional, physical, psychological, and social well-being. Symptoms can range from mild to severe, and each patient can present a unique combination of symptoms. To provide the best care possible for behavioral health patients, providers create complex and individualized care plans – which need to be correctly documented and monitored in an EHR system.
- Complex treatment plans. Taking a patient-centered approach to behavioral health care, as described above, results in complex treatment plans. This care is often provided over a long period of time, so your EHR system needs to provide flexibility for plans to change and adapt over time – while accurately documenting results from hospitals, pharmacies, lab tests, and other outside agencies. In addition to receiving one-on-one care from a provider, many patients are also treated in group therapy sessions, which is unique to a behavioral health organization.
- Interaction with outside agencies. In a behavioral health setting, providers frequently work with outside agencies – including court systems, shelters, and employment or housing services – to meet the complex needs of each patient. This cooperative approach to care requires an EHR system that can share relevant information with third-party organizations, while still protecting confidential patient information.
WHAT EHR FEATURES ARE IMPORTANT FOR BEHAVIORAL HEALTH PROVIDERS?
To address unique behavioral health challenges, it’s essential to choose an EHR system that provides:
- Customization. It’s important to have an EHR system that provides templated workflows specific to the treatment of behavioral health patients. This allows providers to track the clinical aspects of a patient’s care, while equipping facilities with the necessary information needed to bill for their services.
- Flexibility. In addition to providing templated workflows, your EHR system should have the ability to be easily customized based on the patient’s unique situation.
- Data sharing. It’s critical that your EHR system can seamlessly and efficiently share information with all the agencies involved in a patient’s care – from court systems to community-based services.
- Remote access. When providing care out in the community, behavioral health practitioners need access to EHR data on the go. This includes the ability to both review patient information and remotely input new data into the patient record.
- Thorough reporting. Because behavioral health facilities are often subject to additional state and federal guidelines, your new EHR system should be capable of generating the types of reports that you need to share with both internal and external partners.
HOW DO YOU SELECT THE RIGHT EHR SYSTEM FOR BEHAVIORAL HEALTH?
Implementing a new EHR system for your behavioral health facility is a big investment of time and resources. Here are some tips the help you choose the right solution to meet your needs – and budget:
- Know your goals. When it comes to choosing a new EHR system, there isn’t a “one-size-fits-all” solution for behavioral health. Every facility is different and has a unique set of EHR needs. So before starting your vendor search, begin by clearly documenting your project goals.
- Assess your budget. The cost of a new EHR solution can vary drastically based on your needs. The same is true with budgets. A behavioral health facility that’s part of a much larger health system will have different needs and resources than a smaller facility with no inpatient beds. Gaining a solid understanding of your available resources (both people and financial) is a critical first step of the implementation journey.
- Review reliable sources. It’s never a bad idea to start by checking ratings from organizations such as KLAS Research or Black Book Research. But keep in mind that these ratings may not tell the whole story – especially for smaller vendors that may specialize in EHR solutions for behavioral health. For that reason, you may also want to ask peers in the industry for their experience with EHR vendors.
- Ask for in-depth demos. Never commit to selecting an EHR vendor without asking for demonstrations performed against scripted scenarios. In addition to assessing how an EHR system will meet the unique needs of your patients, you can also gain an understanding of how well a vendor understands the client journey for behavioral health patients.
- Check references. When considering a new EHR vendor, always ask for references from organizations that are similar to your own. Then, make the time to call each reference. You may be surprised at how much insight can be gained by simply checking the references provided by a vendor.
- Enlist expert help. The process of selecting and implementing a new EHR system can be stressful and overwhelming. That’s why it’s always helpful to call in an expert for help. At HealthNET Systems Consulting, we’ve developed a proven process for behavioral health EHR vendor selection. Our team of experts can help identify your unique EHR needs, then develop a customized methodology to ensure you make the right decision for your organization.
I hope this quick overview has been helpful in addressing some of the EHR needs that are unique to behavioral health facilities. If your organization is considering a new EHR system and would like some guidance, don’t hesitate to contact the HealthNET team. We’d be happy to explain our vendor selection process, and discuss how we can help your team select a new EHR that fits your needs.
Blog Post Author:
Robert Todd, Consulting Director
HealthNET Consulting
Bob Todd has 25+ years of healthcare systems experience including IT implementations, security, development, support, and strategic initiatives planning. He recently directed a team of more than 20 FTEs supporting information systems for an organization transitioning to a new EHR while simultaneously executing a reorg and consolidation of services and leadership. He is a seasoned IT professional and was the Director of Information Technology at a greater Boston academic medical center for 20+ years. Bob has experience with multiple EHR vendors, including but not limited to Epic, MEDITECH, eClinicalWorks, athenahealth, Netsmart, Varian, Greenway, and GE.