Continuity of Care begins with the Electronic Medical Record

A recent report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) shows Electronic Health Record (EHR) implementation across hospitals has exceeded government expectations. DHHS recently announced that it “has met and exceeded its goal for 50 percent of doctor offices and 80 percent of eligible hospitals to have EHRs by the end of 2013.” 

EHRs contain information from all the clinicians involved in a patient’s care and all authorized clinicians involved in a patient’s care can access the information to provide care to that patient. EHRs follow patients to each care setting and help ensure continuity of care delivery. Electronic Medical Records (EMRs), a vital component of a patient’s entire EHR, contain notes and information collected by and for the clinicians in that office, clinic, or hospital and are mostly used by providers for diagnosis and treatment. 

EMRs give providers an enhanced ability to track data over time, monitor health status and improve health care quality, therefore, they have become more valuable than paper records. Electronic sharing of patient records ensures accuracy in documentation, reduces duplicative tests, allows for better coordination of care, improves operational efficiency and ultimately helps to reduce hospital readmissions.

So what is on the horizon for the LTPAC provider?

As more hospitals and health professionals begin to rely on EHRs, providers will have an increased need to implement their own EMR systems in order to “connect” with the patient’s overall EHR throughout the transition of care.

While LTPAC providers are currently excluded from the Medicare incentives, EMR and EHR adoption has become critical to the broader health care improvement efforts that have started as a result of the Affordable Care Act.
Read about the 2012-2014 Roadmap for HIT in LTPAC and priority areas for action.

Why LTPAC providers are turning to LINTECH

LINTECH’s COMET provides a comprehensive EMR solution which is fully-integrated with LINTECH’s COMET resident accounts and financial & administrative solutions , designed specifically for LTPAC. This comprehensive software system, originally built on an acute care platform, provides maximum interoperability for providers to interface with hospitals and other healthcare professionals allowing for improved transitions of care.

Integrated solutions include:

• Resident/Patient Account Suite: is the most efficient, effective and powerful integrated LTPAC clinical and financial tool for your facility's revenue cycle management.

• Clinical/EMR Suite: comprehensive solution for every aspect of charting and documenting patient care, from tracking and managing, to assessing, planning, retrieving and reporting.

• Financial & Administrative Services Suite: offers the most advanced, comprehensive yet easy-to-use LTPAC solution for managing your accounting and administering your business processes at the user, department and facility levels.

To read more about how your facility can benefit from LINTECH’s fully-integrated LTPAC software solutions, visit www.LINTECHsoftware.com or schedule a demo.