Top 5 Features You Need in a Behavioral Health EHR System

Do you know what to look for in a behavioral health EHR solution that will ensure the fullness of your needs are met for optimal organization success? With the proliferation of behavioral health software vendors offering solutions, it’s hard to determine what’s most important.

Here are the top 5 features you need to ensure a behavioral health EHR solution provides before you commit to a vendor.

1. Full integration. Some vendors claim their systems are “all-in-one” solutions, but use third-party software to complete their solution. For example, billing and scheduling may be managed on different internal systems or by a third-party vendor instead of fully integrated into a complete EHR solution. A fully integrated EHR solution offers the full spectrum of care functionality on one platform. Centralized data is accessible between functional teams with everything you need to manage your business from a single dashboard. Without the full cache of features integrated into one cohesive system, you run the risk of having information in separate software programs that don’t communicate with each other.
2. Meaningful Use (MU) and ONC-certified. The Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health IT identifies Authorized Testing and Certification Bodies (ATCB) that ensure an EHR solution meets the definition of “certified EHR technology.” To be compliant with standards, implementation specifications, and certification criteria adopted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, you should choose an EHR solution vendor who is “ONC certified”.
3. Flexible and Scalable. Look for a solution that is flexible by providing a wide range of content serving many different types of behavioral health programs and populations and is scalable to meet your agency’s needs today and as you grow into the future. This will help you mitigate the risk that your solution will become outdated as your business grows and changes with the ever-changing healthcare environment.
4. Reporting and Analytics Capable. To easily and effectively meet compliance and auditing requirements, a system and vendor partner offering reporting and analytics capabilities will allow you to generate comprehensive reports as needed. Not only will this help you manage the business end of your practice, but it also lets you mine the data in your system to make better client care decisions.
5. Paperless solution. This is the goal of a successful EHR solution and one that will have a positive impact on productivity and efficiency. It creates one centralized location for all client information providing your clinical staff access to real-time data for better care decisions, assist your administrators in making sound business decisions, support seamless billing efforts and improved reimbursements, reduce your paper footprint and free up time to focus on client care and growing your organization.