Most behavioral health providers have an existing EHR (electronic health records) platform, yet too often the system is seen as a burden rather than a help. 

Your work is challenging. Your requirements are demanding. Your clients’ needs are complex. The last thing you need is an outdated EHR that makes the work that much harder. 

Even if you know what’s causing issues for your team, and you have a list of the basics (storing clinical records, billing and claims, telehealth, client communication), how do you know what to look for to get quick adoption and a faster path to realizing ROI?   

Keep reading to explore key features that will help you improve care, increase efficiency, and maximize revenue. 

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What EHR Functions Can Help Providers Improve Client Care 

Caring for clients is the top priority of any behavioral health professional. An EHR suite isn’t just about how to get insurance claims processed (although that’s vital, too). An effective EHR system can engage consumers while sharing the right kinds of information easily and quickly with all those on the internal and external team so they can deliver the best care possible. 

Workflow 

Dashboards are a daily tool in any healthcare setting. You’ll want an EHR system that allows staff to choose what information to see right away when they log in, such as patient roster, insurance eligibility, charge capture reports, etc. That means any dashboard should be easily customizable to your needs. 

Look for: 

• Easy-to-read dashboards that can be customized by program, role, or permission 
• Data is presented to staff with minimal effort, without having to hunt across multiple screens, and actionable by clicking from the dashboard directly into the details of the workflow  
• Clear understanding of what actions to take next, and with minimal clicks to do it 

Care Team Communication & Coordination 

Consider when medical staff, behavioral health therapists, substance use disorder counselors, or other internal groups within an organization need to access and contribute to the same client records. Similarly, a care team leader needs to see everything and ensure that all three different types of services add up to one comprehensive care plan. The system’s ability to host, share, and report on complex, multi-faceted care plans will be key to its usefulness. 

Look for: 

• Real-time information-sharing and coordination internally 
• Ability to segment data based on program and privacy laws, while still providing a comprehensive overview for those who need it, like the care team leader or billing 

Consumer Engagement 

Modern EHRs should enable clients to participate in their own care plans without having to use a separate application or portal. By allowing clients to securely communicate and share information with providers, they can better manage their health and stay on top of their treatments and appointments. 

Look for: 

• Ability to view, complete, and sign off on forms and clinical documentation and route it to your care team 
• Request, confirm, or request changes for appointments 
• Launch telehealth visits from the app 
• Self-service lookup of important details in your clinical records, such as prescribed medications or care documents
• Allow authorized persons such as parents, guardians, and court system representatives to access needed information 

Mobility 

Think about crisis care, home-based treatment, or community-based services delivered in the field. In these situations, you often don’t know what you need until you need it. Not being able to access the EHR on your mobile device can lead to inadequate care, poor quality of data captured, staff and client frustration, and even loss of revenue. 

Look for: 

• Solutions designed using a mobile-first architecture that display information clearly on any device regardless of operating system or screen size 
• No system limitations when accessing the EHR from a mobile device 
• Ability to access all consumer records and information, plus collect and manage data, documentation, progress notes, etc. in real-time and even with limited cell service 

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What EHR Functions Can Improve Efficiency 

As we all know from experience, humans resist “friction,” and that means we give up on systems that take too much time or effort or require us to change how we work. Especially in behavioral health, where staff resources are limited, you need to look for functionality on the back end of an EHR platform that will make processes simpler on the front end.   

Interoperability 

Behavioral healthcare can include a wide array of therapies, which means an equally wide array of providers, facilities, insurance providers, and more. Furthermore, EHRs need to seamlessly exchange data and information with a plethora of other systems, not only in different parts of the healthcare system, like prescription management and medication alerts, but with other systems in general, like accounting and finance software. 

Look for: 

• Built-in capabilities for communication outside of your system (across more than one platform, i.e., video, texting, emails) 
• Full range of external information-sharing with other providers for functions like sharing e-prescriptions and exchanging patient data 
• Ability to add different types of entities easily (like pharmacies or wellness centers) 
• Ability for clients to participate more fully in their care by entering appropriate data about their care from any device 

Flexibility and Scalability 

Providers need to be able to respond to change quickly and at a low cost. This is regardless of whether that change is a result of internal forces like expanding services/locations or becoming a CCBHC (Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic) or external forces like new state or federal requirements or regulations. Either way, the more scalable your system is, and the more it accommodates these types of changes, the better in the long run. 

Look for: 

• Customizable templates and forms for assessments, treatment plans, and progress notes 
• Capability to add or import forms, templates, and data 
• Ability to make changes easily (for example, create a new form) without engaging IT, a programmer, or vendor support  

Analytics and Reporting 

With today’s business intelligence (BI) tools, many EHR systems have integrated data visualization that can be both manipulated for specific insights as well as exported to share with other stakeholders. What’s critical here is the ease and flexibility for staff to be able to access and analyze important data without having to request custom reports. Think through your use cases in advance of any product demo to see if the analytics align with the data you need to share. 

Look for: 

• Analytics that cover all your current needs and can be adapted for the future 
• Insight to help a clinic identify patterns in data and better understand the population you’re serving
• Ad hoc reporting that’s simple for any user to configure to meet their needs

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What EHR Functions Can Maximize Revenue Potential 

One of the key roles of an effective EHR system is reducing unpaid claims. This not only saves the staff time in chasing down incomplete forms or playing detective to figure out why a procedure wasn’t covered, but it also increases revenue. In that sense a solid EHR platform can pay for itself. 

Better (and Easier) Documentation 

A complete and accurate “paper trail” is crucial for claim approval. Even if everything is correct, one missed field can mean the claim is denied. Not only does that cost you revenue, but it also takes time away from other functions while a staff person goes back through the claim to see what was wrong. Any way you look at it, it’s a waste. You need the ability to configure your system in a way that reduces human error and gives staff (and their supervisors!) quick access to any documentation they need. 

Look for: 

• Ability to present users with the required documentation they need to complete without them having to go looking for it
• Built-in tools to ensure that services provided are based on the treatment plan, plus help choose the most appropriate diagnostic and procedure codes so bills go out correctly
• Prompts to remind staff to complete missing documentation and dashboards to keep users aware of what’s coming due
• Ability to route documentation to supervisors for approval and allow them to see what’s overdue

Integrated Billing 

Ideally, your EHR platform will include integrated billing, so your team doesn’t have to work between two different systems for billing and claims. This can also help when you need to appeal a denied claim, which further saves time and helps increase revenue.  

Look for: 

• Editing capabilities based on payor requirements and authorizations to prevent claims likely to be rejected from being submitted 
• Configurable business logic that proactively warns a user that a service cannot be reimbursed and therefore should not be delivered
• Tools to track denied claims, manage the appeal process, and identify trends in denied and reversed claims to understand their source and frequency 

Automation 

The more the EHR system can do on its own – correctly – the more time you save your staff. Not only that, but with built-in checks for missing or incorrect information, you avoid unpaid claims. 

Look for: 

• Automated flags for missing, inconsistent, or invalid information (such as only nine digits in a phone number) 
• Automated checks to see which services require pre-authorization
• Automatic claim generation based on documented services
• Automatically ensure the correct pricing and coding regardless of payer or modality 

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What EHR Functions Can Improve Adoption 

Modern Technology 

Traditional EHRs are often rigid systems designed primarily for data entry, storage, and retrieval. Even when new features are tacked on, the components don’t work well together, and the system becomes disjointed. On the other hand, modern EHRs can leverage native browser tools like voice-to-text and language translation, plus integrate cutting-edge AI tools, for a superior user experience. 

Look for: 

• Global search features that allow staff to find any data point within clinical records 
• Ability to render information in the same language as your browser 
• Speech-to-text integration that helps simplify documentation
• Fully integrated telehealth/video chat capabilities to extend access to services
• AI capabilities that drive improvements in client engagement and outcomes, staff satisfaction, administrative efficiency, and business decision-making

Ease of Use 

Last but by no means least is ease of use. We’ve all seen this happen. When functionality isn’t intuitive, it drains revenue because it wastes time. If individuals in multiple types of roles need to use the system, get a representative sample to truly “test drive” a system first. The faster each staff member can start to use it – without having to create work-arounds – the sooner your facility will be able to focus on caring for patients versus struggling with technology. 

Look for: 

• Clean and easy-to-use interface that mirrors your existing workflows and simplifies everyday work
• Easily make the system your own by personalizing your settings and organizing information to see what’s most important
• The same functionality and user experience no matter what device or operating system someone is using
• Design that mimics the apps people are already familiar with using (for example, a calendar that has the same look and feel as Outlook or a search that has the simplicity and power of Google)
• User-driven configurability that allows you to adapt and expand the system to meet evolving business requirements 

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Lining Up All The “Rights” for the Most Effective EHR System 

Finding an EHR that mirrors your workflow, allows you to scale, communicates easily with a wide range of stakeholders, and has automated processes to prevent lost revenue is a game-changer for any behavioral health provider.  

While very few people get excited to implement a new IT system, a modern EHR can ease the “paperwork” side of behavioral healthcare while at the same time providing the right information to the right people at the right time for better client care. As we like to say, it helps you elevate care over complexity. After all, that’s why you’re investing your time and talent in this field.