How Can EMRs Help DPC Practices?

Direct primary care practice is an alternative healthcare model. The daunting landscape of healthcare, the complex nuances of healthcare coverage with insurance plans, and the growing number of alternatives to the traditional healthcare model have paved for the healthcare industry’s new future. Steeped in the latest technology and free of the fuss and frills of conventional healthcare, alternative models are proving to be highly advantageous for physicians and patients.
Direct primary care is also known as the future of medicine. It offers various benefits to independent physicians and their patients without the intervention of insurance companies. DPC practices allow their physicians to attend to a handful of patients over the day, allocating ample time for visits to take place. Visits are in-depth and detailed as they are not constrained by insurance-based legislation and directives. When patients spend more time with their doctor, the quality of their visit automatically improves. A doctor can thus do his or her job efficiently and to the best of their ability. It reduces the burden on the doctor as well.

How to start a direct primary care practice

Starting a direct primary care practice is a challenging process. It requires a great deal of self-belief and determination to get your practice up and running. There are several things that you need to think of when you are starting out with a direct primary care practice. Some of them include:
1.Branding and marketing: You must come up with a perfect name for your practice – something that captures your essence as a doctor and what you hope to achieve through your new venture.
2.Plan, plan, plan: You must come up with a business plan, as this will serve as your template when you are going through the motions. The program should inspire you and push you towards growth and practice in the long run.
3.Use the right technology: You must get the hang of technology. Technology and healthcare is a blissful union that is here to stay, especially in the context of a CoVid ridden world. You can start out the basics, such as setting up an excellent website. Your website has a massive bearing on how people perceive you and your practice. It should be seamless, efficient and profitable for you. The next step is to build up your social media channels to create a solid online presence. You can direct traffic from Facebook, Instagram or even LinkedIn to your website to draw in customers.
4.Find your space: Look for an excellent yet functional space to start from. It doesn’t need to be grand from the get-go, but you must be able to work efficiently and quickly. The room shouldn’t be too cramped, nor should it be too big for you to handle when you are starting out, particularly in terms of maintenance and bills.
5.Get the right equipment and technology: This picks up from point number three, but you must use the correct technology to ensure you have a smooth-running practice. One way to do this is using electronic medical records, the focus of our article.

What are Electronic Medical Records?

Think of EMRs as a digital version of the paper file that most practises having on their patients and clients. Electronic medical records are stored on computers. Essentially, it is a database of all the patients. It contains their medical history, family history, current medical services and all the information a doctor needs to go over when they are seeing a patient. Some EMRs are cloud-based as well.

To set up electronic medical records for direct primary care practises, you need to find the appropriate EMR provider. There are several that you can look up and get a quote from on the internet.

The Benefits of Electronic Medical Records for Direct Primary Care

There are several ways in which EMRs can help direct primary care practices.
1.Seamless and efficient: A direct primary care service is meant to be seamless and efficient. The communication channel between the doctor and the patient is direct. Hence, it is imperative to have precise information compiled and ready to go when the consultation or visit is taking place. When the physician has complete and accurate knowledge of the patient on hand, he can build an excellent relationship with his patient. There is no last-minute fumbling to search for a missing file or missing test report; it is all in one place. Healthcare management thus becomes streamlined and reliable.
2.Simplicity: Some EMRs are built for direct primary care use. They do not contain any fussy features which you will never use over the course of your career. There are some essentials in EMRs that can help you in DPC, such as,
●Note tracking: You can make changes as you go along. In some cases, you can also look up history.
●Communication logging and tracking: You have a comprehensive history of your communication with the patient so that nothing goes amiss.
●Connectivity to email: The EMR system is linked up to your email. If it is cloud-based, it is accessible from anywhere in the world. You can stay in touch with your patient when you need to, supporting a solid relationship.
●Calendar organization: All your work commitments in one place so that there is no chance of missing out on anything.