Healing the Mind With Psychiatry EMR

Admittedly, many of us leave out psychiatry when we think of what’s considered a medical practice and what isn’t.  This is probably based on the fact that many don’t know the difference between a psychiatrist and a psychologist.  A psychiatrist is a medical doctor who specializes in mental health whereas a psychologist is a non-medical professional who studied the science of the psyche.  Keeping this in mind, the use of EMR for psychiatry proves just as beneficial to psychiatrists as it is to doctors treating physical ailments.    

The main thing that sets psychiatrists apart from psychologists or therapists is their ability to prescribe medication.  Although, with power comes responsibility and psychiatry EMR’s ePrescribing features like Surescripts allow psychiatrists to carefully monitor and manage patients’ medications.  Surescripts electronically submits prescriptions to retail pharmacies, gives the psychiatrist access to the patient’s past and current medication lists and promotes communication with the patient’s other physicians.  

Sometimes the mind is more vulnerable than the body and a visit to the psychiatrist can sometimes feel more intimate than a visit to the family practitioner.  Putting a computer between the doctor and the patient can make the patient feel even more vulnerable and not heard.  Tablet PC-enabled EMRs promote patient comfort with a more natural flow of conversation where the doctor can sit facing the patient with the iPad on their lap rather than facing away or talking over a monitor screen.      

Other psychiatry EMR software interface features are designed to make practice office life easier.  Initial and follow up appointments can be easily scheduled and reminders are sent out to prevent time and money loss from no-shows.  Psychiatry-specific software solutions also provide E&M coding assistance for mental health related treatment, decreasing the likelihood of claims denials by insurance companies and increasing revenue for the practice.