Summary: Integrating both medical answering services and EHR systems is becoming more commonplace. Integration has measurable benefits, but it also comes with challenges. The key for practices is choosing the right partner.
It used to be that medical answering services and electronic health records (EHRs) operated in different realms. Medical answering services were voice-driven, human-centric operations designed to ensure that calls were answered after-hours. Meanwhile, EHR management was a rigid and data-heavy practice built on the need for documentation. In the 2020s, things are quite different. The line of distinction between the two is disappearing.
Modern medical practices no longer utilize answering services just to take messages after hours. They have come to realize the benefits of using an answering service as a seamless extension of the office. In so doing, practices are incorporating their medical answering services into their digital nervous systems.
If there is a downside to digital integration, it is the technical friction that often comes with bringing on a new answering service partner. That friction, combined with administrative hesitation, can make partnering with a service difficult. But understanding the evolution of answering service technology can help administrators and practice owners better understand the true value of what medical answering services specialize in: a single source of truth.
How We Got Here: Friction
Apello is at the forefront of seamless integration between medical answering services and EHR. We understand how the answering service industry got to where it is today because we have been an integral part of its evolution.
‘Friction’ was a commonly used word among IT managers when companies in our industry began suggesting EHR integration. The idea of friction stems from three well-known issues systemic to IT:
- Interoperability – Different systems (in this case, EHR systems) do not all speak the same data language. A practice must find an answering service whose system speaks the same language as its own.
- Security and Compliance – Bringing in a third-party partner always raises concerns about security and compliance. In healthcare, security and compliance covers everything from protecting patient data to complying with HIPAA rules and maintaining strict business associate agreements (BAAs).
- Workflow – Integration can never interfere with workflow. Ideally, workflow should be improved by integrating answering service technology with EHR and office practices.
One way to reduce friction is to insist on a low- or no-code integration solution. The answering service provider handles all the heavy lifting related to data mapping and system security, giving the practice access to a plug-and-play solution.
Real-Time Data Entry Saves Time
Among all the benefits of integration, the most visible is the time saved by way of real-time data entry. Under a legacy system, a member of the office staff needs to listen to messages at the start of each workday. Those messages must then be translated into both data and action. With an integrated system, medical answering service agents input data in real time. The data can be acted upon with no need for intermediate translation.
In an integrated system, an agent enters call details directly into a portal. That portal pushes data to the practice’s EHR. The results are significant:
- Instant updates relating to cancelations, urgent symptoms, etc.
- Error reduction by way of eliminating the need for messes translation.
- Improved triage through properly routed calls and urgent messages.
Real-time data benefits both the practice and the patient. It creates a more efficient operation that better serves both urgent and non-urgent needs alike.
Maintaining the Single Source of Truth
Single source of truth (SSOT) is a data management practice that dictates structuring data models so that every piece of information is mastered in a single place. In healthcare, that place is the EHR system. The EHR is considered the single source of truth for all information related to it.
Here is the challenge: when EHR and medical answering service are kept separate, the answering service becomes a source of fragmented truth. Consider a new patient mentioning during a conversation with a phone agent that she is allergic to penicillin. If that note never makes it to the EHR, the consequences could be significant.
Integration between an answering service and an EHR ensures that every interaction is recorded in the EHR master file. By extension, this ensures:
- Clinical Accuracy – Doctors have access to all data before diagnosing or prescribing.
- Audit Readiness – A practice is always prepared for an audit thanks to a full and complete digital trail of every interaction with patients.
- Quality Care – Master data allows the GP and specialist to coordinate more accurately because they are relying on identical data.
Although SSOT was not originally developed for healthcare, it is nonetheless a vital principle for integrating medical answering services with EHR systems. Prioritizing SSOT leads to a more pure data stream that benefits practices and patients.
The Impact on Workflow
It is easy to see how full integration protects data and streamlines the technical side of working with a medical answering service. Yet there is one more thing to consider: the net impact on workflow.
Legacy answering service is built on manual message management. There is a heavy administrative tax that comes with it. But removing that tax has a transforming impact on the office. The practice front desk is transformed from switchboard operations to care coordination. Here is an example:
- A patient calls in the middle of the night with an urgent but non-life-threatening concern.
- The agent verifies patient information via the EHR. All data from the call is entered into the system and forwarded.
- The call’s summary is automatically posted in the EHR.
- The next morning, the triage nurse’s dashboard provides both a callback reminder and the context necessary for a proper call.
Integration reduces the likelihood of playing phone tag. It also reduces the cognitive load on office staff because data collection occurs when the original call comes in. Nurses and receptionists always have the data they need to be as efficient as possible.
Integrating a medical answering service with an EHR system does not have to be difficult. From the practice’s perspective, it is a matter of finding the partner capable of handling all the heavy lifting. Apello is one such partner.
FAQs
Does integration impact HIPAA compliance?
When done correctly, integration does not decrease compliance. In most cases, compliance is improved while risk declines.
How does real-time data differ from batch uploading?
Batch uploading involves transferring large volumes of data at predetermined intervals. Real-time data is entered into the system as its generated. That means data is always up to date.
Are APIs necessary for EHR integration?
APIs are not only expected when marrying two digital systems; they are the actual glue that holds disparate systems together. APIs facilitate the ability of different systems to communicate with one another.
Will integration slow down EHR performance?
Thanks to cloud-to-cloud connections, modern integrations do not interfere. Data processing occurs on a cloud service before data is pushed to the EHR, so local computers experience no lag.
Does integration still work when the internet goes down?
Internet service can always go down, so medical answering services have fail-safe emergency protocols in place. Service continues with these protocols until internet service is fully restored.
