Question
How does TIMS Audiology Software Version 6 support the electronic medical record (EMR) or electronic health record (EHR)?
Answer
With TIMS, you can take every piece of the patient interaction and either store it digitally or record it digitally. For example, you can create a patient intake sheet, have the patient complete the information, capture an electronic signature, and archive it back to the system. We have an electronic super bill that eliminates a tremendous amount of paperwork and duplicate work by allowing the audiologist to indicate charges for a particular patient visit. This includes claims charges, or the purchase of a hearing aid accessory, for example. The audiologist can do that within the history section of the software without having to have a piece of paper follow that patient around.
Paper super bills can get lost. They can get stuck on the wrong folder, or end up in a pile of papers on a desk. They could be misinterpreted due to handwriting issues. An electronic super bill ensures you don’t miss those charges. The software automates it by looking for anything that needs to be invoiced, such as a new hearing aid. When you sell hearing aids to a patient, and you finalize the visit, the software indicates that it sees you added hearing aids. It asks if you would like to add them to this invoice. It prompts you to ensure that you have accounted for the services you entered. When the visit is finalized, the electronic super bill creates a claim transaction that’s ready to be processed in the system. It requires review to make sure it’s correct, and then it also creates an invoice for the patient.
This frees up the workflow within the office. Now, you don’t have to send that piece of paper back out to the front office, have the patient have a seat, and wait for someone else to create an electronic document. So depending upon the office workflow, you can create the invoice, create the purchase agreement, print it out for the patient to sign, archive that report, print it out, and hand a copy to the patient. The whole process takes a lot less time electronically than it does on paper, and there is much less room for error. It also provides a solid audit trail.
This Ask the Expert is an excerpt from a full interview on the topic of TIMS Audiology Software Version 6. Read the full interview here. Learn more about TIMS Audiology Software on the TIMS Audiology Software Expo Page on AudiologyOnline.
