A great EHR software can help improve many aspects of your practice. But, does your EHR software help you stay in compliance with payors? Whether or not you are considering an upgrade to a better EHR software, be sure the software you are using can do these three things:
1. Help you bill correctly
Optometrists spend a lot of time and money acquiring an education. Shouldn’t your reimbursements reflect that?
In general, it seems as though, Optometrists tend to undervalue the work that they do. It’s not because they didn’t conduct a thorough exam, but because they aren’t absolutely sure their exam record meets the qualifications for a specific coding level. Then, because of this, some optometrists adopt a “better safe than sorry” method for their billing. Your EHR software should take the guesswork out of your billing process.
However, most EHR software systems base their suggested diagnosis codes on the patient’s history. What about all of the work you just did? What if they are a new patient and you have no history? When thinking about EHR software, you should be sure your software is not just using the history, but that it can suggest exam coding based on your documentation. It is much easier to know that you are right, because you already did the work to back it up.
You may ask the question, “What if I need to add a diagnosis code to my findings?”. If you do need to add a specific diagnosis code, searching should be easy. An EHR software should reflect your dedication to modern technology. Patient’s shouldn’t see a wall cluttered with “ICD-10 Code lists”. You should just be able to Use keywords to find the exact diagnosis code you are looking for.
Your EHR software should be able to help you find exactly what you need, right when you need it. Your software should be working while you are. As you are documenting your exam findings, your EHR software should be intuitively building a list of potential diagnosis codes based on those findings.
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2. Help you maximize your reimbursements.
Don’t be on the “safe” side. Be on the right side!
Optometrists work through an exam, diagnose an issue or even multiple issues, suggest a treatment plan, and schedule follow-up appointments to monitor the issues. Then comes the billing and coding part of the visit. Do you ever think, “I’ll be on the safe side and just bill this visit as a level 2”? Why would you do that if the work you did qualifies your exam as a level 3 or even 4?
Many optometrists worry about getting reimbursed and then fall into the trap of billing their work incorrectly because they are trying to avoid “upcoding” the exam. Fraud is a buzzword for optometrists. Technically, misrepresenting data is fraud even if you are downcoding. If you purposely under code your exams to avoid fraud, you could be setting yourself up for trouble down the line.
Foxfire’s EHR software helps you maximize your reimbursements by suggesting codes that are in line with the work you did. Being a doctor should mean more than proper documentation and billing. You did the work and you should get paid for it.
3. Help you protect yourself during an audit.
We are not trying to jinx anyone, but rather provide a sense of confidence. Yes, that’s right. We said confidence.
God forbid, the day comes that you undergo an audit. Wouldn’t it be nice if that word didn’t make you cringe? You know you are a great optometrist and you do the best you can for your patients every time. Does your exam record always reflect that? Well, you hope so.
The software that you are using should not only review your exam for you, tell you what coding level it meets, tell you if you are missing something, but it should also tell you what that something is.
Foxfire’s medical decision-making tool will show you exactly what level exam your documentation meets. There is no more hoping; now there is confidence.
Interested in learning more about how an EHR software can help you stay in compliance?