Finding the Right EHR for Your Direct Primary Care Practice

How to Choose an Affordable and Feature-Rich EHR Tailored to DPC Needs

Direct primary care practices use integrated electronic health record systems to securely store and share patient data over time, enabling continuous care coordination. Quality EHRs that improve care and outcomes are a critical investment for DPC practices.

Direct primary care (DPC) is a growing model of healthcare delivery that provides patients with access to primary care services through a direct financial relationship. As opposed to going through health insurance plans, patients pay a monthly membership fee directly to the DPC practice to receive a range of comprehensive primary care services.

With this increasing shift towards DPC, having the right electronic health record (EHR) system is crucial for running an efficient and successful practice. However, not all EHR systems are designed to handle the unique workflows and demands of a DPC setting.

In this article, we’ll explore the key considerations for choosing an EHR tailored for direct primary care practices.

See how Calysta EMR delivers the accessibility, accuracy, security, and integration direct care demands. Contact us today

Why EHRs are Important for Direct Primary Care

An EHR goes beyond the capabilities of the traditional paper medical chart and provides a comprehensive digital view of a patient’s medical history. Some key advantages of EHRs include:

• Accessibility: EHRs can be easily accessed by authorized providers from multiple locations, which is essential for remote care.
• Accuracy: EHRs eliminate issues like illegible handwriting in paper charts. All entries are legible and recorded precisely.
• Security: EHRs have safety features like audit trails, user authentication protocols, and backup systems to prevent data breaches.
• Integration: EHRs can interface with external systems like medical devices and labs for efficient data transfer.

For direct primary care practices, having an EHR system in place is crucial to deliver coordinated and personalized care to patients in an efficient manner. Since DPC practices take on fewer patients compared to traditional primary care, optimizing clinical workflows through an EHR is even more important.

Additionally, the recurring monthly payments in the DPC model represent a predictable revenue stream. An effective EHR can help maximize this revenue by improving practice efficiency.

What are the Key Features of a DPC-Friendly EHR?

While most EHR systems share some basic core features, they can vary significantly when it comes to suitability for direct primary care settings. Here are some must-have capabilities:

Patient Scheduling and Management

Most DPC practices do not take insurance and are based on a membership model. The EHR needs to accommodate scheduling recurring patient appointments and sending automated appointment reminders.

It should also have a membership management module to track subscriber enrollments, renewals, and cancellations. This helps forecast revenue and spot membership churn.

E-Prescribing

E-prescribing functionality allows providers to electronically send prescriptions to pharmacies. This improves accuracy, reduces fraud, and incorporates drug formularies to check for interactions and insurance coverage.

For DPC practices filling frequent prescriptions, having e-prescribing saves significant time compared to writing paper scripts. It also provides an electronic record of the prescription for the patient's health history.

Patient Communication and Engagement

A major advantage of the DPC model is the improved doctor-patient relationship from longer visits and communication access. An EHR can facilitate engaging with patients through:

• Secure messaging for non-urgent consults and questions
• Email newsletter/alert capabilities
• Patient portals to access health records, schedule visits, pay fees, etc.

These features allow DPC practices to deliver personalized ongoing care outside office visits.

Reporting and Analytics

Robust reporting and analytics help DPC practices track progress, optimize revenue, and demonstrate value.

Essential reports include membership statistics, utilization rates, quality metrics, and financial performance. These provide data-driven insights into the health of the practice.

Telehealth Integration

Many DPC practices offer virtual visits as a convenient care option. Having an EHR that integrates telehealth visits into the patient record is important for continuity of care.

It should capture visit notes, recordings, and data from connected devices like Bluetooth weight scales. This provides transparency into the patient's health between office visits.

Choosing the Right EHR for DPC: Key Factors

The EHR a DPC practice chooses can have significant long-term impacts in terms of costs, workflow efficiency, and patient care. Some key factors to evaluate when selecting an EHR:

Factor	Considerations
Cost-Effectiveness	The pricing model for EHR systems varies greatly. Cloud-based systems have monthly software fees, while legacy systems require large upfront costs for servers and infrastructure. For smaller DPC practices, cloud-based EHRs are often much more affordable and scalable. When comparing options, look at the total cost of ownership over 5 years.
Implementation and Training	The time, staff hours, and potential business disruption required to implement the EHR should be considered. Look for vendors that provide training resources and support during onboarding. Ideally, the system should not involve major disruptions to existing workflows. Customizable settings to match workflows are advantageous.
Design and Usability	An EHR’s interface design affects how efficiently providers and staff can enter documentation and access information. Complex EHRs slow down workflows and frustrate users. Look for systems with clean, modern interfaces optimized for clinical productivity. Having iPhone/Android apps for on-the-go access is also beneficial.
DPC-Specific Features	As outlined in the key features section earlier, the EHR should accommodate DPC-specific needs like membership management, subscription billing, enhanced patient engagement tools, and DPC-relevant analytics/reporting.
Vendor Reputation and Support	The vendor providing the EHR will be your long-term technology partner. Look at their experience with DPC practices, client satisfaction ratings, and service/support options.

Prioritize vendors that understand the unique needs of the DPC model rather than forcing a "one-size-fits-all" EHR solution.

Make the right EHR choice for your DPC with Calysta's affordability, optimized workflows, usability, DPC expertise, and outstanding support. Book a demo today

How to Avoid Common EHR Pitfalls in DPC

While EHR adoption is essential for DPC practices, ineffective implementation can hinder rather than help. Some common pitfalls to avoid:

• Disrupting Workflows: Don’t optimize the EHR system at the expense of optimized real-world workflows. Provider complaints about the EHR wasting their time are hard to reverse. Get input from users on existing workflows pre-implementation and customize the system accordingly.
• Data Entry Burden: Clicking through endless templates and checkboxes leads to provider frustration and burnout. Strike a balance between comprehensive documentation and efficiency. Leverage tools like voice transcription to auto-generate visit notes rather than demanding manual data entry for every interaction.
• Alert Fatigue: Too many on-screen pop-ups and alerts from the EHR can desensitize staff and cause critical issues to be ignored. Turn off non-essential alerts and judiciously enable the most important ones.
• Lacking Patient Communication: Entering data into the EHR should not come at the cost of face-to-face interaction and communication with the patient. Set expectations that EHR use is focused on enhancing the visit rather than replacing interaction.
• Inflexible Vendor: Avoid EHR vendors that don’t understand the DPC space and try to force their standard systems designed for traditional fee-for-service billing models. Seek out vendors open to feedback and customizations.

Best Practices for Leveraging EHRs in DPC

Implementing an electronic health record system presents a major opportunity for DPC practices to enhance efficiency, insights, and patient care. However, the technology alone does not guarantee these benefits - realization depends greatly on how practices leverage their EHR. 

Adopting best practices around implementation, workflows, training, analytics, and continual optimization enables getting the most out of EHR capabilities. These include:

1. Setting Measurable Goals

Establishing clear, measurable goals for EHR adoption tied to specific outcomes, such as improved health metrics, increased revenue, or reduced administrative hours, provides a framework for tracking progress and demonstrating the value of the system.

2. Redesigning Workflows

Designing clinical workflows around the EHR, rather than forcing the EHR to match inefficient legacy workflows, helps maximize the system's potential and streamline operations.

3. Providing Thorough Training

Offering comprehensive staff training on the EHR, using resources like tip sheets, videos, and one-on-one support, ensures effective utilization of the system's features and reduces the learning curve.

4. Designating Super-users

Appointing "super-users" in each department who deeply understand the EHR and can provide ongoing user support helps maintain proficiency and address issues quickly.

5. Using templates judiciously

Leveraging templates judiciously helps balance streamlining documentation with reducing the risk of copying forward outdated information, maintaining data integrity.

6. Activating patient portals

Enabling patient portals immediately facilitates transparency, communication, and engagement outside of visits, improving the overall patient experience.

7. Leveraging analytics

Using analytics like utilization rates, quality metric tracking, and patient population health management provides valuable insights for optimizing workflows, improving outcomes, and demonstrating the impact of the EHR.

8. Staying updated

Staying informed about the latest EHR capabilities and best practices through vendor communications, conferences, online communities, and other resources helps ensure the system is being used to its full potential

Conclusion

The potential for EHR systems to transform direct care practices is clear. However, realizing this potential hinges on selecting a platform designed specifically for the unique needs of the DPC model. 

Technology is only one piece of the puzzle. Practices must engage deeply to implement EHR-enabled workflows, provide robust training, and continually optimize use of the system. By leveraging best practices around EHR adoption, the gains for DPC practices can be immense: improved health outcomes, streamlined operations, and enhanced patient experience.

Calysta EMR was purpose-built from the ground up for direct care. With capabilities engineered for DPC workflows plus a team experienced in guiding practices through successful implementation, Calysta offers an unmatched solution. 

We invite you to explore how Calysta can become the technology partner to help your DPC practice maximize the benefits of an EHR tailored for direct care. Contact us today to discuss your goals and schedule a demo to see Calysta in action.