Every healthcare organization wants to take the best care of their patients, increase compliance and improve their bottom line. An EHR that can address these key goals is critical to a hospital’s success.

While many components play a part in achieving quality and cost measures, here are the top five to look for in an EHR:

1. Surveillance (predictive analytics)

Active and predictive surveillance helps clinicians respond to changing patient conditions, manage care and increase compliance with core measures. This component automatically:

• Analyzes data in real time using evidence-based rules
• Identifies patients who meet certain criteria
• Populates tracking boards preemptively
• Reduces communication delays by sending notifications to the care team when a patient may be trending toward a bad outcome
• Guides clinicians to the next appropriate steps

Surveillance synthesizes data to make it more meaningful to clinicians and quality managers, speeding interventions, improving outcomes, and ultimately, enhancing the patient experience.

2. Watchlist

A watchlist points out your most vulnerable patients, identifying every profile they meet and why they qualified. Most watchlists are flexible and can be used to view a particular patient, floor or condition (e.g., CAUTI, diabetes and sepsis), as well as the entire hospital.

3. Registries

Actionable event and disease registries help physician practices to manage patient populations and chronic diseases. A solution that offers information in real time, from across the continuum, helps practices to provide high-quality, lower-cost care and reduce expensive inpatient and ED visits.

4. Analytics

Analytics are important to evaluate how you’re doing as an organization. Data can be viewed across single or multiple facilities to monitor your performance and trends.

5. Care Coordination

A care coordination plan that centers on integration and interoperability helps you to keep track of your patients as they move from one care setting to the next. Whether your patients are in the hospital, a long-term care facility or at home, staying in touch helps them avoid unnecessary ED visits/readmissions. Patients can use a mobile tool or wearable device to easily stay in touch; information flows seamlessly to the EHR, so clinicians can stay on top of any potential red flags.

EHRs can enhance patient care and safety, which can improve quality outcomes and lead to increased reimbursement. Take the time to research options and look for the one that best meets your organization’s needs.

For more health IT-related content, visit MEDITECH’s blog.

This article was written by Pamela Crandall, Senior Marketing Solutions Manager at MEDITECH.