Why 6% of Behavioral Health Uses EHRs and How to Boost Adoption

In behavioral healthcare practice, the rate of EHR adoption is low compared to that of physical health facilities. Unfortunately, only 6% of behavioral health facilities and 29% of substance use disorder treatment centers are using electronic health records (EHRs).

Adopting and implementing EHR is more than necessary for today’s healthcare practice to reduce the administration burdens and focus on patient care. In this blog post, you will learn the challenges and benefits of adopting EHR in behavioral health

What is Behavioral Health EHR?

Behavioral health electronic health records (EHRs) are a form of digital platform specially designed for healthcare providers offering mental health and addiction treatment. 

It plays a centralized platform for patient information, processing clinical workflow, and improving patient care through quality services.

Keys feature of a Behavioral Health EHR include:

• Patient Information: It records the patient’s medical details, history, and treatment plans.
• Documenting Clinical Records: It serves as an excellent platform to record the documentation of assessments, diagnoses, treatment interventions, and progress notes.
• Medication Management: It supports tracking prescribed medications, dosages, and refill details.
• Aid in treatment planning: with the help of this platform, you can make and implement personalized treatment plans like health-oriented goals and objectives.
• Reporting and Analytics: Generate reports on patient outcomes, utilization of services, and practice performance.
• Maintenance Billing and insurance: It maintains structured billing processes, and supports proper insurance claims.

Related: The 10-Point Checklist for Selecting a Behavioral Health EHR

What are the benefits of behavioral health EHR systems?

1. Enhanced Care Coordination

• Care coordination is a vital component of patient health management, which reduces readmission rates, and hospitalizations, and reduces overall costs by helping patients receive the right care on time. 
• Coordinated EHRs supporting providers to improve efficiency while meeting all patients’ requirements.

2. Centralizing Patient Records

• EHRs provide a centralized platform for all patient information, including diagnoses, treatment plans, medications, and progress notes. 

• By utilizing detailed patient histories, healthcare providers can make more conscious decisions about treatment options.

3. Increased Workflow Efficiency

• By automating multiple administrative tasks like scheduling appointments, billing, and documentation of patient records.

• EHR reduces the paper-based work in all stages of healthcare practices, which reduces the administrative burden on staff.
• On the other side, it provides a systematic way to record and manage patient data, making it easier to retrieve and analyze information.

4. Supports Data Analysis

With the help of EHR, providers can make decisions and generate valuable data that can be utilized to identify trends, measure outcomes, and improve quality care. Through monitoring regular care in a systematic 

5. Better Medication Management:

• EHRs can track prescriptions, monitor medication follow-ups, and find out drug usage. These measures can improve patient safety, reduce medication errors, and optimize treatment plans.

• By leveraging the capabilities of mental health EHRs, healthcare providers can deliver significant and high-quality care to patients.

Why does behavioral health EHR adoption remain low?

In the United States of America, the behavioral health EHR market size was esteemed at USD 176.2 million in 2021, and in the future, it has a high chance to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.07% from 2022 to 2030.

Despite the advantages, behavioral health EHR adoption remains low due to several factors such as:

• High costs
• Complexity of implementation
• Integration challenges with existing systems deter many providers.

Additionally, the specialized nature of behavioral health services requires tailored EHR solutions, which can be limited.

Resistance to change and lack of training further contribute to the slow uptake. Overcoming these barriers requires targeted solutions that address these specific needs and offer clear benefits for practice efficiency and patient care.

Challenges in Behavioral Health EHR Adoption and How to Overcome

At the time of adopting EHR in your healthcare practice, the common challenges are : 

1. Cost of implementation

High initial investment is required at the time of EHR implementation, especially when it comes to small practices with low budgets.

Also maintaining and updating EHR systems requires ongoing costs for software licenses, hardware, and technical support. Behavioral health providers frequently face reimbursement rates that are lesser than those for physical health services, making it trouble to justify the investment in EHRs.

3. Interoperability and data exchange

Ensuring seamless integration between behavioral health EHRs and other healthcare systems, such as those used by primary care providers, can be complex. There is a barrier to exchanging patient-sensitive data due to privacy and security concerns.

4. Workflow Interruption

At the initial stage of a new EHR system, it consumes a lot of time and interruption to your regular workflow. Some providers may not satisfied with this change because they do not understand the benefits of EHRs.

5. Absences in specialized EHR features

Behavioral health providers have unique clinical needs that may not be solved by standard EHR systems.

There is a challenge in Customizing EHRs to meet the specific requirements of behavioral health, where it is complex and costly.

Related: How to Overcome the Common Barriers in Adopting EHR for Behavioral Health

Strategies to Increase EHR Adoption for Behavioral Health

To effectively boost the adoption rate of EHR systems in Behavioral Health practices, a multi-faceted approach is crucial:

• Ensure transparency regarding data security measures to build trust among patients and providers.
• Provide monetary or resource-based incentives to make transitioning to new EHR systems financially viable for practices.
• Facilitate smooth adoption by offering thorough training and ongoing support to help practitioners become proficient with the EHR system.
• Guarantee that your EHR system integrates seamlessly with other systems to ease data exchanges and reduce integration challenges.
• Highlight the specific advantages of EHR solutions, such as improved patient care coordination, streamlined workflows, and enhanced data accuracy.
• Build collaborations with other healthcare organizations to gain additional support, share best practices, and foster a supportive adoption environment.

By implementing these strategies, you can significantly increase EHR adoption rates and ultimately enhance the quality of care provided to patients.

Vozo EHR for Behavioral Health Practice

Though many Mental Health EHR solutions are available on the internet, Vozo stands in the separate line by offering exceptional solutions for Mental Healthcare Professionals.

Vozo has a wide range of key features like an advanced user-friendly interface, seamless integration with mental health tools, accurate reporting, and analytics, specialized templates for mental health, etc…

Our exceptional solution for All Levels of Mental Healthcare Practice;

• Vozo has an advanced user-friendly interface, even non-techy healthcare professionals and staff members can handle and manage it with ease.
• Our Support team will cover your back 24/7, whenever you need technical support, our team will assist you.
• Vozo’s Subscription plan is cost-effective and benefits all levels of healthcare practices.
• Data Migration to the Vozo EHR system is made easy, yet our support team will assist you.
• We provide comprehensive training and ongoing support for healthcare professionals and staff members.
• Vozo complies with regulatory standards and ensures high data safety and security.

“Empower Vozo’s Mental Health EHR Solution for Mental Health Patients Outcomes. Sign up and get a free demo“