An electronic health records (EHR) system is essential for caregivers. It allows access to centralized health records for faster intake and more comprehensive care planning. But assisted living isn’t acute care — so why use an EHR built for it?
Your EHR should meet your real-world needs as a clinician who rounds in a long-term post-acute care environment. In this article, we'll explore the specific needs of assisted living providers, identify common pain points, and help you choose an assisted living EHR system, like ChartPath, that simplifies your workflow rather than adding to it.
What Makes Assisted Living EHR Needs Different?
As a clinician, rounding in assisted living differs from hospital or outpatient settings. You're often caring for patients with multiple chronic conditions who are unable to manage their own care. This environment requires coordination among multiple specialists and a focus on long-term support. To be effective, you need tools that improve the intake and transfer processes and give you a comprehensive, real-time view of each patient.
Unlike hospital or clinic rounds, assisted living involves continuous observation, medication management, timely interventions based on evolving patient needs, and long-term support.
Although decentralized rounding gives you more flexibility to treat patients, it also often comes with challenges, such as a lack of standardization and delayed communication. An EHR designed specifically for assisted living helps you address these challenges without compromising your ability to make decisions in real time. With the right features, an assisted living EHR also provides a clear paper trail for regulatory compliance. It can also offer EHR cost savings by eliminating the need to purchase and maintain multiple systems.
Pain Points Providers Face With General-Purpose EHRs
If you’re still using a general-purpose EHR while rounding in an assisted living facility, you've likely encountered limited or clunky mobile access — if any at all. Your platform may not be compatible with skilled nursing facilities, hospitals, or labs, meaning you have to wait for access to critical data to fully understand your patient's condition.
These systems often have fragmented documentation workflows, increasing the risk of handing off incomplete patient information to another clinician. In an assisted living facility, accurate and timely information is crucial for proper care coordination. Without an EHR designed specifically for assisted living, coordinating care often takes longer than it should.
Choosing an EHR built by professionals with assisted living and long-term post-acute care experience ensures centralized access to the information you need. You also save time by managing and sending critical documents through a single platform and easily tracking your care activities.
Your patients benefit, too. They get high-quality care without delays from transfer paperwork or long, repetitive intake processes.
How to Choose the Right Assisted Living EHR
The right assisted living EHR software includes key features that make rounding a breeze. Before choosing an EHR vendor, consider the following questions:
-
Can the system function offline or in areas with unreliable Wi-Fi?
-
Does it support seamless communication between the facility and clinicians?
-
Are billing and documentation tools built-in, or will you need to add separate solutions?
-
How long does onboarding and training take?
-
Does it meet your compliance needs and help you prepare for audits?
Key Features of an Ideal Assisted Living EHR for Field Providers
Start your search for assisted living software by prioritizing vendors that offer an EHR that's built for LTPAC. Whether you’re rounding in one facility with multiple patients or across several locations, you need a platform that’s accessible on the go. Since you’re not carrying a laptop during rounds, choose a platform that's easy to navigate on a phone or tablet.
Select a platform that integrates seamlessly with the software you already use. Your EHR should be interoperable with health information exchange (HIE) platforms as well as LTPAC EHRs such as PointClickCare and Matrix Care. With this level of connectivity, you can easily send and receive patient notes, intake forms, medication records, orders, and other critical information.
To minimize human error, choose an EHR with built-in medication tracking and interaction alerts. You'll be notified when a patient is taking a medication that could conflict with a treatment you're considering. Additionally, look for a platform with customizable documentation, so you have the information you need for compliance without wasting time on overly complex or irrelevant templates.
Look for a solution that offers care coordination tools essential for transitional care management. When working with patients who see multiple specialists, everyone on the care team needs access to the same data. These tools provide visibility into the care plan for all team members, making sure everyone contributes to a successful outcome. Use a tool with alerts and communication features to keep everyone updated in real time.
Simplify administrative tasks by opting for a tool with built-in coding guidance, such as ICD codes, and automated claim generation. Accounting for long-term care is complicated, but these features help make the process smoother.
Real-Time Care Coordination: Why it Matters
Patients in assisted living facilities often have complex, long-term conditions that require care from multiple specialists. While rounding in these settings gives you autonomy, having up-to-date information is crucial to inform treatment plans and ensure patient safety.
Effective care coordination also improves patient satisfaction. When you and the rest of the caregiving team communicate clearly, you’re less likely to encounter medication errors, duplicate tests, and other complications. This seamless communication allows you to transfer patients smoothly to the next provider to ensure timely and continuous care.
How ChartPath Solves for Assisted Living Realities
An EHR system tailored to the unique needs of this field frees you up to spend more time with patients. Instead of wrestling with piles of paperwork or tracking down patient records, you gain a clear, comprehensive view of each patient.
You can make your rounds more productive by assessing patients in real time and addressing their immediate needs, without having to rehash old information or spend extra time getting up to speed on every patient. This approach also helps you implement strategies for physician well-being, allowing you and your colleagues to focus on the aspects of your work that energize you. It also helps you stay prepared for medical practice acquisition.
ChartPath built its EHR with your unique needs in mind. Our platform offers complete census management across all your facilities. Chart with ease by using our one-click pull forward of prior charts. Automatically send your notes to facilities and billing to ease your administrative workload.
Ready to see what ChartPath can do for you? Contact us today to learn more.
