Pediatric EHR: key features, benefits, and leading platforms
December 19, 2022
The Association of American Medical Colleges reports that in 2019 the specialties with the largest number of active physicians were the primary care specialties of internal medicine (120,171 physicians), family medicine/general practice (118,198), and pediatrics (60,618). Most of these professionals use electronic health records software on a daily basis, but does its basic functionality work for all of them?
What is pediatric EHR?
Pediatric EHR is a system for the secure accumulation, storage, exchange, and disposal of children’s healthcare information. It is used in healthcare facilities that provide care for newborns, children, and adolescents specifically.
The major differences between pediatric and general-use EHR include enhanced interoperability with record-keeping systems for educational and recreational organizations, role-based access for a child's family members, and a wide set of field-specific functions (immunization schedules, newborn screenings, growth charts, etc.) The functional composition and data format for this type of EHR is regulated by the Children’s Electronic Health Record Format.
According to the Journal of Pediatrics, more than 80% of pediatricians use EHRs lacking optimal functionality, which negatively impacts the quality of children’s medical care.
adopted some kind of EHR
Journal of Pediatrics
are using EHRs with optimal functionality
Journal of Pediatrics
Errors in clinical decisions, misdiagnosis, and miscalculations in medication dosages can all be the result of an EHR system implemented in the wrong setting. In this article, EHR developers explain what a pediatric-specific EHR should look like and share some tips for its successful implementation.
Why pediatricians need EHR
While most pediatricians still implement general-practice EHR systems, specialized software can boost their performance and help cut the time doctors spend on administrative tasks, according to the 2021 research conducted by representatives of Stanford University’s School of Medicine. Moreover, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality cites another study that suggests EHRs lacking pediatrics-specific functionality could threaten patient safety. Also, pediatric EHRs can help healthcare professionals with the challenges they face in children’s health care.
Children’s health visibility
Challenge
Pediatricians might overlook some potential health problems if they don’t have a clear view of children’s physical and psychological growth and development dynamics.
Solution
Pediatricians can put data in EMR during every visit, and the child's caregiver can do so as well via the patient portal. Then, a comprehensive growth/ development chart can be accessed through the doctor’s dashboard.
Looking for an EHR suitable for your pediatric practice?
Patient profile
Documentation management
Insurance management
Appointment management
Clinical (pediatric) workflows
Medical templates
Reporting and analytics
Secure data exchange
General features
Pediatric EHR features
Pediatric EHRs have many features similar to general-use EHRs. These modules, however, could not fully cover the everyday needs of a pediatric practice. This is why AHRQ and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have developed the Children’s Electronic Health Record Format which describes the critical functionality, data elements, and other field-specific requirements for pediatric EHRs. Moreover, pediatric EHRs’ functionality can be enhanced with the help of third-party integrations.
Specific features:
- Prenatal and newborn screening data
- Special care needs management
- Easy generation of back-to-school, sports, and physical forms
- Special scoring system
- AAP-compliant confidentiality and security
- A child abuse reporting system
- Preventive care management
- Medication management
- Growth and development charting
- Parents/guardians and family relationships data
- Immunization management
Pediatric EHR integrations
The healthcare industry is becoming increasingly digitized, so the number of software tools medical professionals use on a daily basis is growing. In order to protect patient data sufficiently while maintaining efficient operations and accurate patient records, healthcare software must be interoperable. EHR often becomes the heart of the hospital ecosystem and integrates with other software based on the organization’s needs. Here’s a list of hospital applications pediatric EHRs are commonly integrated with:
Pediatric EHR integrations
Practice management software
Billing and claim management software
Marketing and sales tools
Telehealth integrations
Patient portal
Practice management software
integration with EHR brings together the administrative and clinical sides of a pediatric practice. It eliminates the need to duplicate information about appointments, tasks for personnel, patients’ and doctors’ personal details, and care plans, which results in fewer errors and accelerated operations.
Billing and claim management software
integration with pediatric EHR streamlines the cash flow, accelerating the claim submission process and reducing the workload on professionals dealing with claim reimbursement, rejection, or validation. Also, pediatricians can get their reimbursement much easier.
Marketing and sales tools
integration with pediatric EHR help facilitate the client’s journey from a prospect to a patient. Accurate and secure data flow between marketing/sales tools and EHR software is especially valuable in pediatrics, as it is parents or guardians who purchase healthcare services, not the patient themselves.
Telehealth integrations
with EHR allow pediatricians providing remote care to have the child’s health records on hand during the pediatric virtual care session and share the meeting and treatment information with other professionals: family doctors, nurses, caregivers, and school or camp healthcare personnel.
Patient portal
integration with pediatric EHR allows parents, guardians, caregivers, and older children to manage health records, notify their doctor about condition changes or get educational resources. Coupled with other integrations and a pediatric EHR, patient portals even allow users to contact their pediatrician and schedule a remote appointment.
Top pediatric EHR solutions
Most seasoned vendors offer on-premise or cloud-based EHR systems geared towards pediatric organizations. However, many of them are just general-use EHRs with a couple of add-ons. We recommend choosing a solution that was developed as a pediatric one at its core.
Arguably the largest EHR vendor, Epic offers a cloud-based solution that has all the essential functionality of a standard system and a variety of add-on modules relevant to pediatricians. The company has recently cooperated with PediNotes to enhance its functionality with pediatric practice management, neonatal/infant-focused features, data analytic capabilities, and pediatrics-specific information. This software is most suitable for large and medium practices, while smaller pediatric care providers might turn to cheaper systems with less advanced functionality.
Image title: Epic EHR
Data source: emrfinder.com — Epic EMR Software, 2022
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How to choose pediatric EHR software
When it comes to choosing EHR, pediatric providers are faced with multiple options, which can be very confusing, especially for professionals who have never used any kind of EHR before. We recommend using the guide below as a starting point to learn what exactly you are looking for in your pediatric EHR software.
What to consider when choosing a pediatric EHR solution
Clinical and administrative requirements
Outline your practice’s main workflows and decide which points can be improved with the help of EHR. Furthermore, you can draft a list of requirements for the system and start looking for corresponding features in the software currently on the market.
Security and backup options
Check if the system you are considering complies with industry regulations. Pediatric EHR must be HIPAA-compliant and have data encryption and other advanced security mechanisms to protect your patients’ data. You also need to consider the desired backup model and check if your EHR of choice supports it.
Scalability and mobility
Your practice is going to grow over years, new technologies will emerge, and you may need to add more features and integrate additional software with your EHR. Therefore, choose a system that is easy to integrate with third-party software and can be expanded or upgraded with additional modules.
Implementation cost
Make sure to discuss the implementation budget, including the hidden costs, with your tech partner. Besides, you might need to allocate parts of the implementation budget for hardware, software or network upgrades, personnel training, EHR integration with other tools, and user support and training.
Ease of use
Keep your personnel informed about the future EHR. Take into account their opinion on the desired functionality and interface. If you’re on the lookout for your first EHR, it’s wise to choose a vendor with plenty of comprehensive training material and good customer support.
Pediatric EHR security
Children’s health data is highly sensitive, and a pediatric practice can face huge penalties in case it gets compromised. Luckily, there are a number of techniques and activities that help safeguard data stored in a pediatric EHR.
EHR security
Compliance with ONC – Authorized Testing and Certification Body
Two-factor authentication
Personnel security training
Security system upgrades
Regular security audits
API-shielding for integrated apps
Compliance with HIPAA and HITECH
Data encryption
Common issues with pediatric EHRs
Despite bringing many benefits to healthcare organizations, pediatric EHRs may pose quite a few challenges for its adopters.
Documentation burden
Research shows that pediatricians find themselves under more pressure after EHR software has been widely implemented. Despite spending less time during and after clinical hours getting digital documentation in order than general practitioners, pediatricians still report information overload, click and alert fatigue, and feeling burnt out after using EHRs.
Lack of unified AAP regulations
The American Academy of Pediatrics issued some documentation that includes requirements for pediatric EHRs but hasn’t provided a comprehensive technical report or policy statement that covers all areas of EHR software application.
Poor interoperability
Data is often stored in EHRs in a format that is not transferable and readable by other systems. Though there's been significant progress in healthcare interoperability in recent years, pediatricians who use legacy software struggle to connect it to their EHR.
Elevate the level of care with pediatric EHR
Each medical specialty faces unique challenges and tasks, and in many cases general-use electronic health record solutions can’t meet them all. There are many EHRs to choose from that can enhance health care delivery and reduce the administrative workload for pediatric clinicians. Before implementing a pediatric EHR solution, it’s vital you determine the functionality and data security features your hospital needs. Afterward, make sure to follow best implementation practices to reap the most benefits from your system. Implementing EHR in pediatrics is not an easy task and requires experts' insights. Itransition is ready to help, offering professional EHR consulting and development services.
