5 Steps to Simplify a Therapist’s EHR

We’ve heard recently that many EHR systems are built without any input from the medical professionals who use them.

Yikes.

From our own mental health-based system research, we know that therapists are often sold overpowered EMR systems built for doctors. Those systems might have a mental health “module.”

The end result for therapists is the same: the interface is a mess, the workflows aren’t built for a therapist’s typical day, and repetitive processes are cumbersome and downright annoying.

At BreezyNotes, we went through a very different process. With “Keep it simple” as the mantra, here’s how we built an EHR application that is does everything a therapist needs and stays simple at the same time:

1. Utilize an established system.

Instead of reinventing the wheel, we stripped down an existing EMR that had already proven itself to be stable and reliable. This way our users would be met with the proven core technologies and workflows that get the basics of an EHR application done right.

2. Rebuild with input from a 30-yr veteran of mental health.

Our developers are great, but they aren’t therapists. That’s where CEO Jim Jonas’s 30+ years of administrative and private practice experience comes in. As an LMFT, LICSW and Clinical Supervisor, Jim applied that knowledge to create an EHR application that doesn’t just imitate the paper process, but improves on it.

3. Consult with a behavioral health billing professional to build the billing system.

We know billing can be one of the most daunting parts of running a practice. So, we recruited a behavioral health billing consultant, VIBE, to rebuild the billing system. VIBE CEO Melanie Pieper knows what therapists need in a billing software and put that expertise directly into the BreezyNotes billing system.

4. Recruit actual therapists.

We recruited practicing therapists from a variety of backgrounds and practice sizes to test the system in the real world. Using their input and feedback we made additional changes and updates to get the system just right.

5. Test. Improve. Repeat

After the initial teardown, BreezyNotes was rebuilt with input from Jim, eight months of beta testing, and things we learned along the way. In all we enhanced our system with more than 150 improvements, large and small.

That’s how we simplified electronic health records for therapists. Have any thoughts about how electronic health records systems serve you? Post to our Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn pages. We love hearing about what does and doesn’t work for people.

Want to find out more about BreezyNotes? Go ahead and click here.