Mental health practitioners know behavioral, mental health, and addiction treatment practices require a different management approach compared to family medical practices and other specialty medical services.

With the complexities of in-patient and out-patientcare, coupled with addiction treatment you cannot rely on an EMR designed for a primary medical care.

It is not a matter of “if” you will switch from a general EMR provider, but “when” you decide to move to a mental health focused EMR solution.

Reasons to choose a mental health focused EMR provider

A mental health-specific EMR gives you advanced capabilities and the experience that primary care EMR software does not concentrate on.

Here are a few advantages to choosing a mental health EMR provider:

1. A mental health EMR provider offers templates to facilitate psychiatric evaluations, ensuring staff will not miss vital information. Templates can cover addiction, assessments, treatment plans, and other crucial tasks to increase your efficiency and to better engage with clients who are dealing with addiction treatment and mental health issues.
2. Continuity of care. A mental health EMR solution offers unique capabilities not typically found in generic EMR applications such as documenting risk factors for violence or suicide, and sadness scales.
3. ICD-DSM coding. A built-in ICD-DSM coding feature helps staff work with the new ICD-10 codes. In addition to ICD-DSM coding, you also might need a mental status exam, outcome measures, session notes, and psychiatric medication management, all functionality included in a mental health EMR.
4. New client intake. Beginning a relationship with a new client is easy. An intake form and process let you capture the pertinent information needed to quickly set up a new client in your system, even in emergencies. You gain efficiencies while verifying appropriate insurance and eligibility for the services prior to being rendered.
5. Communication. Automatically send appointment reminders to clients through various contact mediums, significantly decreasing your no-show rates. An EMR solution makes it easy to communicate and schedule an initial consultation, one-on-one therapy sessions or group therapy. You can use the communication features to remind and schedule appointments based on your clients’ needs. Also, an EMR provides internal communication points and triggers creating a safer, more positive client experience.

Conclusion

If you’re still using paper-based files or you have a general EMR not designed specifically for mental health practices, consider discussing your needs with a mental health EMR provider. Continuing to rely on your current system will only hinder you and force your staff to waste client’s time.

The Remarkable Health difference

Remarkable Health (formerly known as ClaimTrak) is the leading Provider Success Software Company focused on the behavioral health and human services industries. For more than 25 years we have passionately focused on providing behavioral health, substance abuse, and human service organizations the tools they need to provide remarkable client experiences. We offer a purpose-built, integrated platform consisting of Electronic Health Record (EHR)—Clinical, Billing, Scheduling, Reporting, and Medication Management —for inpatient, outpatient, and residential facilities.

For more information about EMR providers and how to choose, download Your Guide to EHR Providers for Behavioral Health today.