Why invest in an Electronic Health Record (EHR)?
Benefits of EHR Adoption & Alaska’s Regional Extension Center (REC)
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EHR Use is Like Learning a Sport — Practice Pays Off
After fully embracing EHRs, many practices report a financial return on their investment.
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EHRs Improve Quality of Care
Even basic EHR use improves care. Examples include: e-precribing with drug interaction alerts; electronic ordering of referrals and lab tests and automatic reminders for better care of patients with chronic disease.
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Better Coding and Documentation = Financial Benefits
EHRs’ decision-support templates create more accurate documentation and coding, which often leads to higher reimbursements.
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EHRs Increase Efficiencies, Productivity
Over time, improvement in practice productivity is often reported through elimination of multiple handling of patient forms, and quicker communications within the practice and with consulting providers.
For the complete article click here.
AeHN’s REC – Help for Providers from EHRs to Meaningful Use
Alaska’s Regional Extension Center offers providers discounted, high-quality services. One of 60+ such federally funded centers nationally, the Alaska REC offers a low, annual enrollment fee of $100 per FTE primary care provider. For this fee, eligible providers can connect to the Health Information Exchange (HIE) service and may receive up to $3,000 in REC service, while eligible critical access hospitals may receive up to $18,000 in services.
• REC Services: EHR Readiness Assessment; selecting an EHR & contracting with vendor; workflow design/re-design; training; implementation, and IT support.
For more information on the REC, click here.
For more information or to enroll in Alaska’s REC send us a message here.
When critical information is available in real time at the point of care, the risk of a medical error is greatly decreased. And, when past test results are included in the EHR, duplicate and expensive tests may not be needed.
No need to repeat your medical and personal history, contact data, or insurance and billing information! You give it once, and it’s in your EHR. Decreased paperwork and immediate access to records, labs and other test results increases efficiencies and lowers costs for all involved, including you, the patient. 
With an Electronic Health Record (EHR) providers have secure, immediate access to your essential medical information to support quick, accurate diagnoses and treatment. 
Paper records are still in use in many facilities; they are unwieldy and easily damaged and require outdated and error-prone faxed or telephoned exchange of information. Contrast them with electronic health records that have legally-mandated safeguards built in to ensure your privacy and the secure exchange of your medical information.
