EHRs: A Therapist’s New BFF?
EHRs, or Electronic Mental Health Records, capture everything from a client’s history and progress notes to worksheets and more. Remember the mountain of paper files therapists once juggled? Those days are history.
But are EHRs truly a therapist’s new best friend? Let’s find out together. And don’t worry, I promise to keep things lively. After all, who can resist a fresh wave of technology?
Being a therapist is an amazing profession, but also comes with a lot of work and emotional baggage too. So while your mentors or your own personal therapists or your journals can carry your emotional baggage. On the other hand, your workload baggage can be managed by these EHRs in a smooth manner, and this is how:
Benefits of EHR in Your Practice
💻 Helps organise all client records in one compact place, so no more last-minute hustling.
💻 Enables easy communication with clients, letting both you and them track progress effortlessly.
💻 Simplifies documentation. say bye-bye to endless papers and hello to upgraded EHRs.
💻 EHRs are more secure and confidential than paper based documentation, especially when they are encrypted and stored in a secure data center.
💻 Depending on the type of EHRs you use, you can easily search through the records to find the information you need quickly.
So, therapists, are these reasons enough to make you switch to EHRs? Wait… I’ve got a bonus points waiting at the end. Starting strong with the EHRs used in the mental health field…
😇 For mental health clients, EHRs help track progress, mood changes, therapy goals and even homework sheets… things regular medical patients don’t typically record or update in their EHRs.
😇 For therapists, an EHR is a blessing, especially when using eclectic (multiple) modalities… everything from CBT to art therapy can be documented in one place. Doctors, on the other hand, mainly log prescriptions, scans and test results.
😇 EHRs also make collaboration seamless, especially in cases where you share or transfer clients. Some clients may have a social worker, therapist and psychiatrist, digital records prevent the hassle of passing physical files around and keep everyone on the same page.
EHRs are widely used in India too. Most big institutions and private clinics are already shifting to digital notes and records. So if you want to be a hassle-free, smart therapist… it might be time to get your EHR in place!
Lastly, to wrap up this challenge with that bonus point…here’s a list of well-known EHRs used by MHPs : Practo, Meddo, Clinecea, Eka Care, and of course… Zensible (sign up already if you haven’t!).
Until the next blog post, take care you human beans, therapists, and therapists-to-be! Psst… one more good news: we’ve officially hit our 60th blog post! Wohoo! Just 40 more to hit that big hat-trick. Thank you for being such loyal readers… keep reading, supporting, and learning something new every week.
