How Can You Promote Interoperability in Your Orthopedic EHR?
Physical therapy and PACS imaging interfaces in our EHR, EMA®, can help your orthopedic practice
One of the most important features of an orthopedic electronic health record (EHR) is interoperability, or how well it plays with other healthcare software or across different networks to share data. To deliver effective care, providers should be able to work together to create a comprehensive picture of each patient’s health.
An orthopedic EHR that promotes interoperability provides tools and interfaces that may make running your orthopedic practice and treating patients easier and more efficient. Within the orthopedic continuum of care, imaging and physical therapy interfaces provide key opportunities to promote interoperability with your orthopedic EHR. Our award-winning* orthopedic EHR, EMA®, provides easy-to-use interfaces with PACS imaging and physical therapy software to help streamline your workflow and coordinate patient care.
Physical Therapy EHR Interface
Physical therapy is an essential element of the overall orthopedic treatment plan. Orthopedic surgeons need to have open communication with the physical therapy team to help provide treatment and facilitate the return of patients to daily activities. To help streamline communication in orthopedic practices that offer in-house physical therapy and rehabilitation services, ModMed® and WebPT, an EHR provider for physical therapists, teamed up to build an interface between WebPT EHR and EMA. This two-way interface allows multiple members of a patient’s orthopedic care team — from the orthopedic surgeon to the physical therapist — to securely share information throughout the orthopedic continuum of care.
Orthopedic providers can easily order physical therapy during the flow of a patient exam and send the order electronically from EMA directly to the WebPT EHR. The electronic order from EMA includes pertinent patient information such as demographics, insurance information and the full therapy order.
When the patient has completed physical therapy treatments, the rehabilitation team can send its notes back to EMA, which automatically attaches them to the patient’s chart. Additionally, the therapy charges, including CPT codes, seamlessly transfer into ModMed’s Practice Management system to help streamline your billing process.
The interface between EMA and WebPT helps reduce manual processes and redundancies, like printing and faxing orders and notes back and forth, for your staff. Orders and therapy notes are automatically saved to the patient’s chart in EMA, helping to avoid manual documentation errors and centralize patient information. WebPT and ModMed Orthopedics both provide analytical reporting, additional practice management tools and outcomes tracking. With these tools, you can save time for your staff and improve operational efficiencies between your orthopedic clinic and in-house physical therapy team.
PACS System Interface in Your Orthopedic EHR
Like physical therapy, imaging is another essential component for orthopedic surgeons to appropriately diagnose issues and develop a suitable treatment plan. A PACS-enabled orthopedic EHR can simplify the workflow in your clinic and help save you time.
Typically, PACS systems work completely independently from EHR systems, storing patient images in a separate location from the patient’s chart. When imaging is ordered, it can take hours to days to receive the imaging back, and you have to log into multiple systems to view a patient’s medical history, visit notes and diagnostic imaging. This process can slow down your day and take time away from seeing your patients.
A cloud-based PACS system or bidirectional electronic interface that allows easy image uploading and sharing with other providers can help orthopedic care teams decrease manual processes, reduce reliance on CDs and DVDs, speed up turnaround time on imaging studies and create a better patient experience.
In-House Imaging
Efferent’s cloud-based PACS and image management platform, eVue, interfaces with EMA and can handle all DICOM modalities, including MR, CT, PET, CR, US and MG. eVue’s browser-based, mobile-friendly viewer syncs with EMA to provide secure image access, so there’s no need to juggle separate logins. That means lightning-fast, cloud-based viewing and patient sharing from anywhere with an internet connection.
Outsourced Imaging
Efferent also offers an HL7 Modality Worklist Interface, which orthopedic surgeons can use to directly connect to EMA and their images from almost any outsourced PACS system. Electronic orders placed from the virtual exam room route to in-house imaging. When the imaging is complete, the link to the study and any interpretation notes are routed back to EMA and attached to the patient’s chart. You can access the patient’s images from within EMA without having to leave the exam room or log in to a separate desktop or workstation.
As healthcare software interoperability has become increasingly essential, you should look for solutions tailored to your orthopedic workflow. The physical therapy and PACS interfaces offered within EMA provide orthopedic-specific solutions that can help you provide patient care more efficiently.
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This blog is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal or medical advice. Please consult with your legal counsel and other qualified advisors to ensure compliance with applicable laws, regulations and standards.
