You may have heard that synoptic reporting is an excellent tool for improving electronic medical documentation. Perhaps you have some questions about this claim, and you even wonder if it is really true. If that is the case, we would like to provide you with a few of the facts behind why synoptic reporting is so accurate, so that you can see for yourself whether or not this type of clinical documentation method would work for your practice.
Clinical Templates
One of the best things about synoptic reporting is that it is a system that allows physicians to use a template system to build their patient reports. Physicians are able to customize synoptic templates according to their needs, and they are also updated on a regular basis to include any new changes in medical requirements. By using a template system, physicians are able to follow a type of guideline when entering information into the computer. The template prompts physicians to enter patient data appropriately, using a pre-determined set of medical terminology. This method results in patient records that are continuously up to date and accurate.
Built-In Patient Care Alerts
For physicians who have very large practices, relying on old-fashioned methods of alerting themselves to patient care tasks has often resulted in poor healthcare management for their patients. Quite often, alerts would go unnoticed, or would be overlooked by physicians or members of the staff because they weren’t always looking for them. With built-in patient care alerts, physicians never have to be concerned that they will forget a critical part of a patient’s treatment plan. Patients can rest assured that they are receiving the absolute best in medical care, and their medical records remain updated and accurate with the most recent treatments they have received.
Evaluating Patient Medical Outcomes
By using the template system, it’s easy for physicians and researchers to evaluate patient medical outcomes. Determining medical outcomes is essential for evaluating and implementing best practices, and the entire process is made much more simple because of synoptic reporting. Medical report accuracy is an absolute must in order to facilitate excellent research and results. Physicians have found they have been able to improve patient treatment plans and implement strategies for patients that they did not think would be beneficial for their patients in previous years. The fact that researchers have relied on the information they’ve learned from patient records that were created with synoptic reporting, and that information has been used to improve other areas of patient care is proof that synoptic reporting is very accurate. It also proves that this method of clinical documentation is extremely beneficial for patients as well as for every member of the medical team.
With all of these benefits in mind, it’s easy to see how synoptic reporting can help with clinical documentation improvement accuracy. With all of the improvements that have come to light since most practices began using electronic medical records, synoptic reporting expands upon those improvements. The result is a clinical documentation best practice that allows physicians to provide their patients with excellent care.
