Which Healthcare Entities Can Benefit from Custom EHR Software?

Did you know that, according to PCM, the adoption rate of the EHR system in 1991 was under 1%?

Now, with the adoption rate of physician-based clinicians going as high as 88.2% out of which 77.8% use certified EHRs in 2021, the number should have been nearly about 90%.

The situation is quite similar in the major healthcare facilities as well, with more than 96% of adoption rate of certified EHRs in US hospitals; it can be said that EHR systems have become the epicenter of care delivery.

If you’re counting the benefits of using an EHR system, then from efficiency to data-backed or evidence-backed care has been provided. Furthermore, the higher adoption rate of EHRs is also helping the healthcare industry to transition from service-based to value-based, and that’s a huge advantage for both providers and patients alike.

However, as there always is, an interesting stat forced me to think otherwise. You see, I came across this survey that said 8 in 10 non-federal acute care hospitals are facing at least one challenge in submitting public health data via EHRs.

Which got me thinking, we’re going through more surveys, research papers, and studies on the efficiencies of the EHR system for healthcare providers. And not so surprisingly, there are a lot.

Trying to find a connecting dot in them, I realised most of those who encountered problems with EHR systems have been using a generic or off-the-shelf EHR system. This alone thread got me into writing this blog.

With EHRs being so essential for modern-day healthcare practices, they have indeed made a difference in improving healthcare delivery. However, the full potential of their EHR systems is often left untapped.

So, what can be done? Well, the solution is – a custom EHR.

In this blog, let’s try to find which are those healthcare entities that benefit from custom EHR and what are the benefits of custom EHR for healthcare organizations.

Without further ado, let’s get started!

Defining the Ideal Candidate for Customization

Before getting into the intricacies of the healthcare entities that benefit from custom EHR, let’s first try to understand if a healthcare practice does actually need a custom EHR. It is important because, if an off-the-shelf software can get the work done, then shifting to a custom EHR would surely be a costly affair.

On that note, let this section be your guide to decide if you actually need custom EHR software or not.

• Highly Specialized or Unique Clinical Workflows: If you are a specialty practice, then you do need a customized EHR for smooth administration and care delivery. Other than that, if your practice has unique clinical workflows, then shifting to a custom EHR can help your practice with both workflows.

• Seamless Integration Needs with Legacy Systems: legacy systems are still being used in the healthcare space, and while most healthcare practices are shifting to a modern system, to integrate your system with their legacy system, a custom EHR would be a smarter choice.

• Large Patient Data Volumes: Depending on your patient base, your analytical requirements differ. For a practice with a larger patient base, a custom EHR becomes a necessity to manage huge amounts of data and make sense of it.

Who Can Benefit from Custom EHR Software?

Technically, every healthcare practice can benefit from custom EHR software development. However, if you are just starting out in the digital landscape of the healthcare industry, then generic EHR software can be the way for you to go. So, making the choices simpler for you, here are some of the healthcare entities that can benefit from the custom EHR software development approach:

Hospitals and Large Healthcare Systems

Large healthcare systems, like hospitals with patient populations of, let’s say, more than 1000, have different departments and complex workflows that suit particular hospitals only. This is where a custom EHR software development approach can be advantageous. It can be easily integrated with the existing system and technical infrastructure and support specific clinical and non-clinical needs. Along with that, specialty EHR solutions can specifically address specialties needs, and needs of the patient population can be easily addressed. This is the reason why custom EHR software development makes an ideal choice for large hospitals.

Physician Groups and Clinics

Generic off-the-shelf EHR software systems are designed to carry out both the clinical and administrative needs of a hospital. In this case, where a clinic of physician groups is providing healthcare services, meeting their specific needs becomes difficult. Furthermore, there can be gaps in coordination, which can affect collaboration.

However, with custom EHR software with enhanced communication features like telehealth, secure messaging, SOAP notes, etc., communication and collaboration can be enhanced by creating a comprehensive and interactive network for all the members.

Along with that, administrative tasks can also be streamlined to improve the clinic’s overall efficiency. Having said that, if the clinic physicians cater to specific groups, then with custom EHR for healthcare providers, they can cater to their specific niches and easily adopt their unique practice models.

Public Health Agencies and Government Institutions

For public health agencies and government institutions, managing huge patient health data is often difficult, and given the high data volumes, the off-the-shelf software simply doesn’t meet half of their needs. However, with a custom EHR software development approach, these agencies can easily manage huge patient health data volumes and track disease outbreaks with features like EHR data analytics.

On the other hand, by making the system interoperable, data exchange can be easily facilitated with other healthcare organizations, and reporting for public health initiatives can be done easily. Since it will be developed for a specific purpose, the specific needs of the healthcare institute will be easily met while abiding by the regulatory requirements and compliance needs.

Telehealth & Virtual Care Providers

With virtual care delivery being one of the growing trends for providers and patients, providing care with generic software systems will simply make your ecosystem incapable of providing accurate care.

In such cases, designing specific remote care workflows with automated virtual scheduling options and seamless integration with RPM devices becomes necessary. With a custom EHR system development, you can build the architecture the way you want and completely shift your practice from physical to virtual.

Long-Term Care Facilities, Home Healthcare & Nursing Homes

Managing detailed care plans for patients who require long-term care can be difficult. On top of that, if you are a home healthcare service provider or a nursing home, then addressing your unique workflows, while keeping a record, can be extremely challenging with an off-the-shelf EHR software.

However, with a custom EHR, you can not only manage detailed care plans and implement complex medication management across shifts. Furthermore, the software being curated as per your requirements, you can promote collaboration between providers and patients to provide quality care.

Healthcare Startups & Digital-First Healthcare Providers

Digital-first healthcare startups are some of the emerging trends in the healthcare domain. For this, there is a constant requirement for iteration of features from providers. Along with that, to connect with different systems and to offer unique digital care experiences, they need a flexible architecture for growth.

Here, the only option that is available for them is a custom EHR software. It meets their unique needs and helps pave the way for their future growth.

Does Your Healthcare Practice Need a Custom EHR: A Checklist

If you made it till here, then one question might still linger in your mind – Do I actually need a custom EHR?

Let’s see it this way: every healthcare facility needs to rely on EHR for data. While most of the providers don’t really know the full potential of EHR software, they just align themselves around the software, though it should be the other way around, right?

On that note, let this section be your checklist for deciding if you need a custom EHR or not. For this, all you have to do is a simple exercise. Ask yourself these five questions, and if your answer matches the answer, then you might get your decision. Refer to the table below:

Key Advantages of Custom EHR Software

If your healthcare practice falls under any of the three categories mentioned above, then custom EHR software development is the way to go. And if you are opting for a custom EHR software development approach, there are the key advantages that you must know:

• Tailored Functionality: The specific clinical needs like specialty customizations and workflows unique to your healthcare organization can be easily achieved with custom EHR software development. Along with that, you can also add some additional features that are unique to your practice, which can also be added to the software to make it much easier.

• Scalability and Future-Proofing: It is natural for your practice to grow with time. Here, addressing its growing needs can be difficult. However, with cloud-based custom EHR software development, you can make your software future-proof and scalable. This means that it can be easily adapted to the evolving needs and requirements of the practice. Furthermore, with evolving technology, custom EHR software is more likely to adapt to such technological advancements than any other software.

• Improved Data Security and Privacy: Data security and privacy considerations are dependent on a lot of factors. With off-the-shelf EHR software, they are often difficult to comply with. On the other hand, with custom EHR software, you can address specific security concerns and compliance regulations to ensure improved data security and privacy practices.

• Enhanced User Experience: Give your users, from patients to providers, an enhanced workflow when working on their software rather than the same old interface. Along with the design part, you can also keep the software workflow at your convenience to streamline it and encourage users to use the software more for healthcare delivery.

• Integration with Existing Systems: Custom EHR software offers seamless integration options with customizations to other healthcare IT systems.

Considerations Before Choosing Custom EHR Software

Though custom EHR software solutions come with lucrative benefits, they can still be a complex affair to implement for your practice. With respect to that, here are some considerations that you must know before moving ahead with custom EHR software development:

• Cost and Development Time: Custom EHR software is a costly venture as compared to off-the-shelf software. Since it is developed from scratch and is specific to your use only, it is natural to have a higher development cost than off-the-shelf software. Along with that, custom EHR software also takes 3-6 months to develop and even more, depending on the complexity of the software. The development cost is something that one must consider before moving ahead.

• Internal Resources and Expertise: Implementing and maintaining custom EHR software is an ongoing process that requires dedicated IT resources or vendor expertise. So, having the ongoing maintenance and support terms beforehand is something that you should consider before moving ahead with a customized EHR approach.

• Long-term Commitment: Custom EHR software, unlike generic EHR software, cannot be discontinued whenever you face a problem. It is a long-term commitment, and problems are bound to come since it will be dealing with different types of data from various sources. Being prepared for ongoing maintenance, updates, and potential upgrades to your custom software system is something that you must consider.

Note: Read this ultimate guide to EHR software development to know the intricacies and other aspects that you need to consider during development.

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