Mental Health News Radio

Posts Tagged ‘Mental Health’

Psychology and Psychiatry Students: Tracking Clinical Hours with Time2Track

brain“Losing track of time is a sign of a fully engaged brain.”
 – Author unknown

Rightly so…as students and professionals within mental and behavioral healthcare have plenty enough to think about without spending disproportionate time: tracking clinical hours, charting and completing analysis, compiling data into graphs and reports, following up with supervisors, meeting professional and student guidelines, and keeping client data clearly organized.  

The process can seem never ending.

Here at everythingEHR we know how important and challenging it can be to track clinical hours and store data with software while managing your practicum and curriculum requirements.   We also know how a clunky system – whether in school or the workplace – can eat hours of your day and deter you from what you truly love to do. 

Behavioral Health EHRs: A Walk in the Cloud

BehavioralHealthEHRCloudAs advocates for agencies who manage valuable patient information we are asked daily which EHR a behavioral health provider should choose.  Buzz words are often thrown around such as “cloud-based” and “web-access”, which for many still are intangible terms when it comes to record security and applicability.

Cloud Computing

More than a decade ago, engineers figured out ways for data and software to be distributed efficiently across several machines and their power pooled for collective use. In the simplest of terms, cloud computing means storing and accessing data and programs over the Internet instead of a computer’s hard drive.  A cloud computing platform refers to the efficient management of systems and networks of data storage over the Internet.  The term itself is an airy metaphor for systems of intelligently orchestrated global networks of millions of computers, harnessing, using, and then renting huge amounts of computing power.  It no longer matters which servers are running a job or from where; it is just inside this “cloud” of machines. 

Behavioral Health EHRs: What is the Cloud?

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We are asked on a daily basis which EHR a behavioral health provider should choose to run their organizations. Buzz words are thrown around like “cloud-based” and “web-access”.  While it is true that the technology world is going the way of all things in the cloud, what exactly is the cloud?  

When a software company tells you they are “in the cloud” what does that mean exactly? How do you know your data isn’t sitting on one or two dusty servers somewhere with your patient data being backed up to a less than secure source in someone’s office? Who has access to this patient data? How often are passwords changed and updated on these servers? Are these servers all in the same location or spread around the country?

 

With a stable and financially secure behavioral health EHR vendor it means your data is:

  • Hosted on multiple servers in multiple states
  • Backed up to secure sources
  • Set up so that if your EHR goes down you are back up and running immediately with minimal to zero data loss (meaning your data lives and breathes on more than one server)

Behavioral Health EHR Demo Trickery: An Interview with Kristin Walker

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Confused by which Behavioral Health electronic health record system you should purchase for your organization? Many sales demos are not very helpful; in fact, they are full of trickery. Join our CEO, Kristin Walker as she pulls back the curtain and reveals what’s really behind all the bells and whistles that your Behavioral Health EHR vendor is trying to persuade you to buy.

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LISTEN TO THE SHOW!

Have further questions? Make sure you contact our team before you make that all important purchase. Having issues with your current mental health EHR?  Maybe it is time to switch.  Kristin and her team of clinical advisors can guide you through the process.

A Possible Reprieve for Behavioral Health EHR Vendors and Providers

championA possible reprieve for healthcare providers and vendors has been announced that may approve an extension of the Meaningful Use timeline.  What does this mean to our mental health providers and vendors?  

The only vendors we support are those that have already passed Meaningful Use Stage 2 Certification for 2014.  We are in full support of how this possible ruling will help our behavioral health providers and organizations.   We are also, once again, proud of our vendors that have already met 2014 requirements.  The Behavioral and Mental Health vendors we support have the funds (staying power) to meet exceedingly strict regulations without the need for this reprieve.  

This is yet another question to ask an EHR vendor.  Did they need the reprieve?  Have they passed MU2 already?  

Read the full article posted on Healthcare IT News here

Are You in a Co-Dependent Relationship with your Behavioral Health EHR?

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Heard Any of this Before? 

None of our other clients are having the issues you are having.

Our other clients have been able to figure this out.

You haven’t spent enough time training on the software.

Who can we work with at your practice that will get it?

How comfortable are you with software?

 

Helping behavioral health providers find the right electronic health records software is our business.  There are so many choices, the entire process of finding the best EHR can be daunting.  Even more of a challenge is moving from one EHR to another.  Many mental health organizations will stay on a system that did a great job of getting them off of paper, but is not robust enough to keep their practice moving forward.  

Which Behavioral Health EHR Does Your Practice Deserve?

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We were recently asked to describe the moment in our personal journey into the world of behavioral health electronic health record software and record cycle management where we stopped simply selling and became true provider advocates.  

How did this happen?  

Why did this happen?

In our research it had become apparent that the behavioral healthcare market was not likely to be the most profitable.  As a matter of fact we learned that many EHR vendors avoid serving this community entirely.  Although there may be many reasons, one obvious factor is that it’s patients may not be among the wealthiest of the patient communities.  In fact, insurance reimbursements are lower than many other segments.  Mental health advocates feel that the rules and regulations they must follow are often stringent and highly-regulated.  It is definitely a niche market. 

Is There More Funding for Mental Health Providers? Yes! The State Innovation Model Grant (SIM)

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The SIM Grant

State Innovation Model Grant

When our phone starts ringing off the hook with questions about additional funding for mental and behavioral health providers and organizations, we pay attention.  We have put together some information for our providers and have created our Behavioral Health EHR recommendation list for organizations applying for this funding.  It is important to make sure the EHR is right for your practice.  In one phone call we can help you determine which vendors you should be working with and those you shouldn’t.  Contact us for a complete assessment.  

The State Innovation Models Initiative will be awarding as much as $300 million to participating states and will focus on healthcare organizations that have a high number of Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

Is your Behavioral Health EHR’s meaningful use certification meaningful?

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There are about 2,500 electronic health record systems. There are quite a few that specialize in behavioral health and others that cover just about any specialty but may include behavioral health. As a consultant to the EHR industry I have watched endless demos and received pricing that ranges from free to a sixty thousand dollar setup fee. Salespeople are a funny breed, especially those in the EHR industry. I spent about three years selling several EHR’s myself. What I found interesting is not what a consumer will find on Software Advice or Capterra. There is a lot of demo trickery, so buyer beware.