In the rise of paperless technology, medical records are also going electronic. Computer screens and hard drives have replaced bulky paper folders and files as health care lunges into the 21st century. And now, staff at medical offices are struggling to understand the ins and outs of dealing with electronic patient charts and records.

Managers, managing nurses, doctors and others in charge can get online EMR, or electronic medical records software training solutions from companies poised to offer premium instruction in how to use electronic medical records for daily administration. Individuals can get training from the same sources to further their careers. Online electronic health records training firms provide:

1. Specific electronic medical records training on compliance with regulatory laws like OSHA, HIPAA and JCAHO.

2. Practical electronic medical records training for staff on how to use medical record software and tools daily.

3. In-depth training on the logic and philosophy behind today's electronic medical records systems.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Get on-site electronic medical records training

Lots of medical offices need actual human guidance, and it's critical to reach out and get a professional trainer on site to deliver the scoop on electronic medical records technology. Find a firm that will accommodate this need and talk about setting up courses right away.

I recommend: Spring Medical Systems offers on-site training for staff on EMR including content and Question and Answer sessions for direct access to knowledge on how to use EMR effectively. ChartLogic also offers on-site training to medical offices.

Get online electronic medical records training

For other offices, online records training may be the way to go. With some savvy management at the helm, staffers can learn all about how to handle computerized medical records online.

I recommend: AHIMA (American Health Information Management Association) offers online training for hospitals trying to go paperless and keep up with the change to EMR. MedcomSoft offers live or pre-recorded web-based training for more on EMS and practice management of medical records.

Find compliance-oriented electronic medical records training

With all of today's red tape tied tightly around the health care sector, it's important for workers to know about how to handle computerized health records to protect patient privacy and data safety. get this specialized training from diversified instructional sources.

I recommend: Find compliance training for medical records staff by Vivid with Element K training tools. Get more in HIPAA, OSHA and JCAHO compliance training from WorldWideLearn.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  When arranging training for hospital medical records or other patient records, consider the audience and try to envision what kind of learners will profit best from a particular solution. Don't let the electronic medical records training suffer from a too-technical approach and make sure the on-site or online training puts things into plain English that learners can grasp.

Stuffing paper patient charts into bulging file folders is no longer the only way to manage medical records. That's right: medical records are going high tech. Thanks to electronic medical records, also called electronic health records, patient charts and other patient info can be computerized to increase efficiency, improve organization and reduce costs. If you are considering making the move to electronic medical records, or EMRs, for your practice, consider the benefits:

1. An electronic medical records system can improve efficiency by organizing records in one central location.
2. Electronic health records provide quicker and easier access to patient information.
3. EMRs can reduce paperwork with computerized patient charts.
4. An electronic medical records system can potentially improve patient care by utilizing protocols contained within the software.
5. Voice recognition medical software reduces the need to pay for dictation and transcription services.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Basic features to look for in medical records software systems

Two common types of medical software are web-based software and desktop software. With the first type, the software resides on your software vendor's computer system, and with the second, the software is installed directly onto your computer. To narrow, the choices, consider contacting a consultant.

I recommend: EHR Consultant can help you choose which type of medical records software is most appropriate for your practice.

Consider your options before you purchase an electronic medical records product

Experiment with an electronic health records software demo before purchasing a particular system to make sure it meets your needs.

I recommend: GloStream provides a free demo of its gloEMR medical records software product to interested parties through the company's website. Also, check out the Practice Partner Patient Records electronic medical records demo to see how your practice can benefit. Other electronic health record vendors are Allscripts and NextGen.

Look for an individualized electronic health records product

Many software providers can customize an electronic health records product for your practice, no matter how large or small.

I recommend: AdvancedMD sells medical practice management software for small practices that includes a medical records feature that lets you store and view insurance cards, customize fields for patient records and eliminates duplicate patient information. Or consider PracticeStudio.Net from Micro Four, a medical records software program that includes in-depth history and examination forms that can handle a wide array of diagnosis and treatment situations.

Consider compatibility when shopping for medical records software

When purchasing software for electronic health records, make sure it is compatible with any other medical software programs you may already use, such as medical billing software.

I recommend: MediNotes is an electronic medical records software program that is compatible with many of the leading medical billing software programs.

Understand the law's effect on electronic medical records

Whatever system you choose, make sure you know how to comply with federal privacy and security laws that affect electronic health records.

I recommend: Try a consulting firm with expertise in medical records and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, such as FOX Systems, Inc., which can help a practice stay in compliance with federal security and privacy guidelines.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Before you commit to a new medical records system for your practice, consider your budget. You may have to make a significant financial outlay at the start to purchase the necessary equipment and software.
• •  Study up on HIPAA. The federal law's security standards not only apply to electronic medical records but also require many more safeguards of a patient chart in an electronic format than it does for paper files.
• •  Realize that there will probably be some growing pains as your practice makes the transition from paper patient charts to electronic medical records. Training sessions could help everyone become more familiar with the new system.

Anybody working in the electronic medical records field knows about the move toward paperless technology in electronic medical records. Electronic medical records allow for better documentation, less paper waste, more compliance with federal and other regulatory systems and more efficient patient care. But offices use electronic medical records in different ways, and managers and planners can get some insight from online sites about how to use electronic medical records effectively.

A medical practice has electronic medical records and electronic patient charts piling up with each new patient visit. Auxiliary software packages and tools help offices use their electronic medical records to do scheduling, billing and more. Doctors, managing nurses and others might look for:

1. Administrating patient care day to day in an office, where electronic medical records provide critical data on patient history and more.

2. Financial medical accounting, where records can be linked to efficient electronic medical records software tools for billing, viewing accounts and other accounting.

3. In new ways to streamline the medical office process with emerging versions of medical record software and other tools.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Use electronic medical records for daily administration

Medical offices find supplemental tools for using patient records to help out with patient identification, scheduling and recording conditions and treatments. Look to online firms for outfitting an office with these kinds of capabilities.

I recommend: The company, acentec, offers diverse tools for using electronic medical records in scheduling and health care office management. Get more in Hipaa-compliant and effective tools for using medical patient records in scheduling from NueMD.

Use electronic medical records software for billing and accounting

Another useful feature of computerized medical records is that they contain not only the demographic data but often the exact patient history needed for billing big insurance payers or making up detailed billing that needs to go out the door. Link up records to these resources to get the ball rolling on reimbursement.

I recommend: Let MedStar direct your billing process working with your computerized patient records to get great financial streamlining solutions for patient accounts. Get more from MDS Medical.

Stay on top of using electronic medical records in new and exciting ways

In addition to time tested way to use computerized patient records, some offices are looking toward the future, getting input from companies researching all of the possibilities for more handling of paperless electronic medical patient records for office results.

I recommend: Find alternatives for using electronic health records to avoid duplication and other special uses at e-MDs. Fill out a survey at myemrchoice, listing the features you want in patient record software to achieve certain goals.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Your electronic medical records are only as good as the staff that uses them. When ramping up a campaign for better tools and practices, don't rely on information to trickle down to everyone. Hold full work sessions with all of the office staff and make sure everyone's on the same page.

Medical records possess all the needed information about a patient, including illnesses, insurance information, a health summary, complaints and treatments. The management and handling of these records fall under certain restrictions and guidelines. Medical professionals use a language, both verbal and written, specific to the medical community. Codes and abbreviations are common in medical records, and medical office and billing staff must understand the basic key terms found in most patient records.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

HIPAA

HIPAA is an act signed into law in 1996. The Health Insurance and Portability and Accountability Act helps protect patient medical records and privacy. It governs how medical offices utilize patient records, and a patient-signed copy of the HIPAA privacy rule notice should be in every patient's file.

I recommend: The National Military Family Association explains HIPAA in more depth, including patient rights.

Electronic medical records

Electronic medical records (EMR) allow for faster retrieval of records when dealing with patients in the office and over the phone. An EMR program can manage patients, billing codes, disease codes, insurance information and clinical aspects of a medical office.

I recommend: E-MDs provides information on the EMR industry.

Coding

Coding refers to the practice of assigning letters and numbers to a specific disease or billing procedure. A large part of a patient's medical records will involve medical coding. While there are medical coding professionals, anyone dealing with medical records must be familiar with common codes.

I recommend: The American Health Information Management Association discusses medical records coding.

ICD-9 and ICD-9-CM

ICD stands for the International Classification of Diseases. It's commonly used to record mortality data from death certificates. However, ICD-9 and ICD-9-CM are codes governed by the World Health Organization. These codes govern all diseases, surgical, diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. It's very common when working with medical records to be asked the ICD-9 code when talking with other offices or insurance companies.

I recommend: Find a list of ICD-9 codes and in-depth discussion about the codes at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Continuity of care record

The continuity of care record is all the pertinent information about a patient. Medical professionals can electronically forward these records to other offices to ensure patients receive continuous care without having to wait for medical offices to mail records or call doctors.

I recommend: ASTM discusses the standards and procedures for dealing with the continuity of care record.

Clinical messaging

Clinical messaging is an automated system that lets patients schedule appointments, change appointments, cancel appointments, request prescriptions refills and leave a message for the doctor, all without having to talk with the medical staff. The information is automatically recorded in the medical records. Clinical messaging is still in the alpha stage in the medical community, but experts predict that more offices will take advantage of it.

I recommend: Advanstar Communications, the publisher of Medical Economics, discusses the pros and cons of clinical messaging.