As we move forward in the interconnected healthcare space, phone calls between pharmacies and physicians are becoming a thing of the past. The tools you have today in your Criterions EHR system are sometimes overlooked but can be impactful to your practice workflow and patient care. Read below for more information about how to view the status of a script and the ability to make alterations to existing scripts which are available in your EHR system today!

Canceling a Prescription

You see a patient, assess their condition, and send off three prescriptions to the pharmacy. Later, lab results come in, and upon review you determine that one of the prescriptions is no longer valid and should be canceled. In the past this involved a phone call to the pharmacy and coordinating records. There is a better way. Your Criterions EHR has a Cancel Rx button. This allows you to send a cancel request from your system for the specific medication you would like to cancel. The pharmacy is notified, your records are updated, and the prescription is cancelled.

Change Requests From the Pharmacy

A patient arrives, and you determine they need a statin. You prescribe Lipitor and move on with your day. While trying to fill the prescription the pharmacist determines that the patient’s insurance won’t cover the brand name version. Pick up the phone again and call the practice? Not anymore. The pharmacist sends a ‘Change Request” to the practice where the doctor can see the requested change, approve, replace, or deny the change.

Rx Fill Notification

You prescribe a medication to control a patient’s blood pressure. The patient is scheduled for a follow-up visit in 1 month. A month later the patient returns, and their blood pressure has not improved, and upon inquiry you discover that the patient never filled the script! In the Criterions EHR system, you’ll know long before the patient returns if they’ve filled their script or not. When a pharmacy fills a prescription, they update that script in the national database. In the patient’s medication list, there is a link to Rx Fill which will update the patient’s medications with the fill records, notifying you to the status of the patient’s prescription.

These new tools help ensure that you have the information you need to manage your patient’s care as effectively, and efficiently, as possible.

If you would like more information on these features or would like to be shown how to use them, please email SUPPORT HERE and we'll be in touch shortly. 

If the pandemic has taught us anything, it's that we must be flexible and adaptable in order to deal with unforeseen situations. Since the healthcare industry in our country was severly affected, it was crucial for healthcare providers to have EHR software that could shift, alter, and adapt with them. Let's take a look at some of the advantages of implementing a customized EHR software.

1. Tailored To the Office's Functionality 

One of the main advantages of a customizable EHR is that it is modified to the functionality of the office. If the operations change from face-to-face communication to remote video or phone communication, the software can accommodate that with the use of new templates and visit codes for patient examination and bill generation. 

2. Improved Office Workflow 

Another important advantage of customizable EHR software is the system's better usability by staff members who, depending on their EHR provider, have a say in how it's customized to their particular activities and jobs. This improves workflow efficiency by saving time and reducing unnecessary clicks when recording patient data. 

3. Increased Provider and Patient Experience 

A practice can better meet the needs of their patients and address their issues with a customized EHR system than it can with a generic one. Thanks to tools, templates, and other features built specifically for different specialities, custom EHR systems offers more intuitive user interfaces than pre-built records systems. The system reads patterns and provides auto-fill suggestions, which help to boost patient-doctor facetime while decreasing time spent recording data the possible human error. 

A tailored EHR system enables reduced annoyance for staff, physicians, and patients. It also allows for greater data quality acquisition and improved practice workflow, all of which contribute to a better overall experience for all parties involved. 

If you would like more information on how Criterions can provide a budget friendly customizable EHR system for your practice, please fill out the form below.

No matter what stage of the EHR lifecycle your practice is in, on-going training is necessary in maintaining efficiency with your software system. It offers opportunities for you and your team members to become more familiar with the program and the company supporting it. Recall why your practice made the decision to purchase the EHR system in the first place. Was it to boost revenue or productivity? Perhaps your firm decided to use a software program to ensure regulatory compliance? Regardless of the rationale behind the decision to make the shift, training is essential for its overall success. 

1. Continuously Improve Procedures and Regulations

When was the last time your office checked to see if the processes you are doing now are the most effective for your company? It's probably been a while. Continuous improvement and staff training consume significant time throughout the day, especially when you are trying to manage your business simultaneously. You simply might not have the time or resources to dive deeper into the systems and procedures you have set in place for you and your staff to improve on.

Like any other industry, healthcare practices go through turnover. Because of the high turnover rates, we regularly miss outdated processes from past jobs that could be improved. The key to overcoming staff turnover is through on-going training. Your practice can examine dated procedures, make the required adjustments, and ensure that all user profiles are set up in accordance with how you want your practice to function. In the end, on-going training and optimization efforts will boose your practices's overall productivity and effectiveness.

2. Recognize Updates for Releases and New Features

The majority of EHR software companies will have at least one vendor release per year, with numerious minor updates and bug fixes. Upgrades to the software that are intended to improve your practice processes are frequently included with version releases.

At Criterions, we include new solution partners, client-requested functionality, PM and EHR updates more than 20 times per year, and on-going training packages for our customers. All of these updates and releases are intended to improve how the user interacts with the system while streamlining the process to increase efficiency. However, you will only profit from the updates and releases if your staff takes the time to learn what the features do and how to use them to your practice's advantage.

Want to learn what's new with the Criterions software? Check the release notes by clicking the Criterions logo once you are logged into your EHR. 

3. End-User Contentment

If your office staff can fully grasp the software they use on a regular basis, they will frequently be happier with the system as a whole and your office will operate efficiently. A bad user experience could make a provider agitated and spend more time trying to record an encounter than caring for their patients. The degree to which end users are satisfied with the software system is directly tied to the initial and on-going training they receive while using it, especially as upgrades are released and positions change.

At Criterions, we understand how important user training is when implementing a new EHR or PM system, as well as providing additional training when our customers need. We have various on-going training packages available with flexible hours to ensure your staff learns the software inside and out. Should any questions arise following implementation, we're always here to help.

To purchase Criterions training blocks, click here.

For more information on training available at Criterions, please complete the form below. ​