Under the Office of the National Coordinator’s Cures Act Final rule, healthcare organizations are encouraged to offer patients and their respective providers secure access to their health information. The health industry as a whole is moving toward adopting standardized application programming interfaces (APIs) that offer users access to important health information.
Some people might question the benefits that increased access to EHRs can bring. While there are a number of challenges that healthcare organizations face when moving their records online, adopting a FHIR API to provide increased access to EHRs offers a number of benefits for both patients and their healthcare providers.
Streamlined Care
Organize and centralize your patients’ treatment plans
Streamlined care is critical for patients who see multiple medical specialists, need to receive emergency treatment, or have to transition between different care settings. However, many healthcare providers do not use an efficient approach to communicating with other medical specialists. They still rely on phone calls and fax machines to transfer information.
The New Way to Manage Healthcare Information
Instead of having to call different offices and jump through numerous hoops to receive pertinent patient information, wouldn’t it be easier for your healthcare providers to access this data in one, central location? Not only is this electronic health information quicker and easier to access than regular paper documents, but it is also easier to keep up-to-date.
Rather than having to wait forever for another office to fax over important information, providers can access accurate information within minutes. This allows each of your respective physicians to make informed medical decisions based on the complete information that your health records provide. Physicians can also avoid conducting redundant tests, accurately prescribe medication, and reduce waste by using a FHIR API.
Increased Patient Engagement
Encourage patients to become more engaged in their healthcare decisions
One of the top benefits of offering patient access to EHRs is that it increases patient engagement. Patients who feel a personal connection to their physicians are more likely to stay loyal to them than those who don’t have much of a relationship with their doctors. They also tend to be happier while also enjoying improved outcomes.
Nowadays, people are used to getting the exact information they want in an instant. Unfortunately, healthcare IT is still behind the rest of its fellow applications when it comes to delivering information quickly and efficiently. That’s why healthcare IT companies are working to change it through the innovation of a FHIR API.
Uses of Fhir API
Patients can do a number of things with a FHIR API, such as:
- Accessing their medical records on-the-go
- Checking their prescription information and re-fills online
- Review test results
- Scheduling an office visit online
- Filling out intake forms before arriving for their first visit to the office
Having access to this information empowers patients and encourages them to become active participants in following their treatment plan. Patients who are engaged in their treatment plans experience improved health outcomes, as they are more likely to follow their physician’s health advice and guidelines.
Improved Communication Between Patients and Clinicians
Stay on the same page as your partners on different clinical teams
By offering a patient portal, you can open a whole new platform for communication between patients and physicians. In an instant, patients can leave questions and messages for their healthcare providers through this online portal. Patient satisfaction tends to increase as a result of this streamlined communication platform.
Instead of waiting on hold just to answer a quick question or having to schedule extra appointments, patients can ask their pressing health questions to their providers online. Not only does this offer increased convenience for patients, but it also allows you to cut down on unnecessary visits and no-shows.
Reduced Clinician Burden
Stop wasting time on tedious administrative work
APIs can lessen clinician burden by offering providers streamlined access to EHRs, analyzing tests, reducing barriers against sharing data, and helping them make informed medication decisions. Instead of spending hours working through tedious administrative work, healthcare providers can focus their efforts on providing top-notch patient care.
Understanding FHIR and its Role in Interoperability
A FHIR, which is also known as a Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resource, offers great promise in joining together different healthcare systems and encouraging health information exchange among providers. In order to connect these different elements together, a FHIR API offers a standard URL for accessing important healthcare information. FHIR APIs can also allow developers to create useful medical apps for providers to make smart and informed patient care decisions.
Implementing a FHIR API into your healthcare organization’s system can bring numerous benefits to both patients and providers. But most organizations need a little help in integrating this popular solution into their operations. Contact the team at Iron Bridge today to learn more about our cutting-edge healthcare solutions.
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