– For Midwives and Other Home and Birth Center Based Maternity Care Providers
Making the switch from paper charting to an EHR system can seem like a daunting change. As midwives, we’ve often favored the low-tech approach and we’re inclined to continue to use what is already working well for us. But the reasons to embrace electronic charting are too numerous to ignore.
1. Accuracy
Whether or not you type quickly, and regardless of whether you love your handwriting, there will always be errors in handwritten text. This can be frustrating in a handwritten chart as the only option is to put a line through the item and leave it there forever. But with electronic charting, until you’ve authenticated your entry, you are able to fix any spelling or other errors that you make in the moment. Students can practice making chart notes that their preceptor can review before saving. And templates can help to keep your charting organized and complete, while autofilling information that you would otherwise be constantly writing and re-writing. And then, of course, there is spell-check.
With an electronic health record, you have all of your clients information at your fingertips. You are able to see other aspects of the client’s chart without flipping through pages, easily verifying information as needed.
2. Productivity
As if having an accurate and thorough chart didn’t do enough to boost productivity, built into the best of the EHR systems are prompts, templates and tools that track a client from their first call through their last visit, from scheduling to billing and including everything in between, such as: client reminders, client portal access (sign-up, client portal health history intake, client portal communication, online consent forms, and online educational forms), and prompts and spaces for everything you want to track. Providers can also choose to increase their efficiency by having normal findings auto-fill in ways that they can customize, such as in a newborn exam.
3. Safety
EHR gives providers the ability to set alerts, such as that a mom is Rh-negative, to remotely review chart information when an urgent call comes from a client, to fax records straight from the computer in a consult, transfer or transport – any time, day or night, and to chart quickly in an emergency with charting tools designed specifically for home or birth center maternity care providers.
4. Decreased costs
EHR systems have been touted by many as a money-saving innovation in the health care industry. Money is saved not only through increased efficiency on behalf of staff and care providers, but also in the avoidance of billing errors. ClientCare billing software is included in our EHR, and you will be able to pull financial reports at the touch of a button, making sure nothing falls through the cracks.
5. Security
Paper charts are vulnerable. They can be destroyed or misplaced. Maternity care providers are responsible for maintaining records for their clients for at least ten years and their clients’ babies until they reach age 19. In an EHR, the information is safe and readily accessible. EHR developers have taken great care to ensure a secure space to save your client charts and information as it grows with your practice.
Using an EHR system is becoming increasingly standard. Fortunately, there are pioneering and experienced midwives doing home and birth center births who have been at the forefront of creating EHR software that supports and enhances your practice, with all of the features that are uniquely beneficial to home and birth center practices.
ClientCare EHR is a thorough, user-friendly system that holds your hand and takes care of all of your charting and practice management needs!
