Choosing an EHR for DPC practices

Choosing an electronic health record (EHR) system is an important step for Direct Primary Care (DPC) practices. Since a DPC practice usually operates on a “retainer” system, the practice must be managed in a cost-efficient manner while still providing quality patient care. The right EHR can certainly help in making that happen. What are some considerations a DPC should factor into the choice of an EHR?

Although DPCs may differ somewhat in their structure, the defining characteristic of a DPC is that the practice offers patients “the full range of comprehensive primary services, including routine care, regular checkups, preventive care, and care coordination in exchange for a flat, recurring retainer fee,” according to an article posted by AAFP. DPC physicians typically see fewer patients during a day and are able to focus more on the quality of their patient’s care.

Given this structure, an EHR system must enable the DPC physicians and their patients to communicate with each other using seamless, secure messaging. Elation’s EHR solution provides this capability and more, to support the physician-patient relationship. Patient engagement is a significant contributor to the quality of their healthcare management plan, a primary focus of the DPC practice.

A DPC practice must also streamline its overhead, to remain solvent while focusing on patient care. Elation’s Clinical First EHR offers DPCs the tools they need to minimize practice overhead for more efficient practice management. With the right EHR solution, physicians in a DPC practice spend less time on paperwork and more time with the patients themselves. Time wasted searching for information or waiting for information from other providers is virtually eliminated.

The AAFP states that given the DPC practice structure, the physicians in the practice “are no longer generating revenue solely on the basis of how many patients they see per day, [and] many report that they have significantly more time to spend with patients in face-to-face visits.” Patient focus is also Elation’s goal and we have designed our EHR solution to help DPC spend more time with their patients and less time with their patient records.