Urgent Care EMRs Needed as Centers Expand

A recent article on InformationWeek.com reported that many urgent care centers plan to increase either their size or locations within the next year.  These expansions make the use of paper medical records more difficult, causing many urgent care centers to think about going electronic.  A specialized urgent care EMR software solution would streamline patient records, making access easier, faster and safer between multiple locations.  

According to the article, based on a KLAS report titled “Urgent Care 2012: A Host of EMR Options”, there are approximately 9,000 urgent care centers currently in existence.  Of those, 86% plan on adding more locations.  Urgent care encompasses non-life-threatening emergencies that can’t wait for a primary care appointment – covering treatment for broken bones, lacerations, cold, flu and sinus infections, ear infections and urinary tract infections.

The implementation of an urgent care EMR solution in a growing facility keeps all physicians on the same page regarding patient care.  Patient health histories can be pulled up in seconds, regardless of location.  In an environment that depends on prompt service, exam templates are designed for rapid typed or spoken word data input.  Bubble sheet intake forms allow for quick check-ins and an E&M coding assistance feature specific to urgent care permits the easy conversion from patient encounters to bills and claims.  Keeping medical records for multiple locations electronically on a client/server database also prevents confidential clinical patient data from being lost or stolen in transit from one location to another.