Speech Therapy EHR Software

Buyers Guide

Last updated: December 09, 2023

What is a Speech Therapy EHR Software?

Speech Therapy EHR Software Features

Choosing a Speech Therapy EHR Vendor

Speech Therapy EHR Software Benefits

What is a Speech Therapy EHR Software?

A speech therapy EHR software is designed to help speech-language pathologists (often referred to as speech therapists) with documentation management, workflow automation, and simplified administrative tasks. The needs of speech therapy practices often differ from other similar ambulatory services.

They often have to manage large amounts of data, which involves recording, storing, and organizing data. A speech therapy EHR software helps automate these tasks through enhanced documentation management. Other tiring tasks that can be simplified with EHR include repetitive tasks, ease of access, coding efficiently for maximum reimbursements, and compliance with healthcare regulations.

The primary objective of speech therapy software is to records, analyze, organize, and update patient information, all the while streamlining your workflows.

As a practitioner, you can seamlessly leverage all of the tools your EHR offers, through your smartphones, iPads, and other smart devices. Speech therapy EHR software are divided into 3 categories:

Cloud-based EHR: Companies that provide native cloud EHR offer you access to patient information through a cloud-storage.

Web-based EHR: These companies focus on a web-based approach and practitioners can access their patient information through their web browser.

Stand-alone EHR: Although not quite popular as the others, this EHR is an on-premise EMR that can be accessed remotely through smartphones, iPads, etc. as long as you’re connected to your practice’s network.

Here’s all you need to know to make the most of your speech therapy EHR software.

Speech Therapy EHR Software Features

Here are some features of a speech therapy software that help streamline your clinical workflows and simplify administrative tasks.

Documentation Management - Speech therapy practices usually have to deal with a massive amount of raw data that needs to be organized, analyzed and documented. So naturally, a speech therapy EHR software should be capable of handling large amounts of data.

Speech Therapy-Specific Templates - As a physician, manually dealing with evaluations can become lengthy. That’s why your EHR software should include pre-built speech therapy-specific templates such as voice exams, swallowing exams, and communication exams.

Speech Therapy ICD-10 & CPT codes - The EHR software you choose should be adept in ICD-10 and CPT coding. Some EHR software allows practitioners to highlight their most frequently used codes, while others suggest codes on their own.

PQRS Support - By ensuring Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) measures are met, you can avoid any penalties on your payments due to Medicare B.

HIPAA Compliance - A speech therapy software also needs to ensure patient information confidentiality and privacy through compliance with HIPAA guidelines.

Choosing a Speech Therapy EHR Vendor

When choosing an EHR software, you have to make sure they offer all of the features you might need. However, that’s not all. You should also make sure that the speech therapy EHR vendor is able to cater to your practice by checking:

Vendor Size – What type of practices does your EHR vendor typically cater to. Some EHR vendors only provide services to small-scale practices, while others cater to large-scale practices. So if you have a small practice, paying for services that help large practices, won’t do much good. Similarly, large practices won’t be able to function with services designed for small practices.

Certification – Vendor certification ensures patient information confidentiality and security and is perhaps one of the most important things to look for in a speech therapy EHR vendor. So make sure your vendor has ONC-authorized testing and certification body (ONC-ATCB) certification

Design – The design of EHR’s infrastructure depends on your choice. Whether you would prefer a cloud-based, web-based or even standalone EHR. Needless to say, cloud-based EHR software offers more benefits at less cost.

Speech Therapy EHR Software Benefits

After you’ve decided on the needs of your services and set your eyes on an EHR vendor, you might be wondering about its benefits. With an effective speech therapy EHR software, you can:

• Spend more time with patients, rather than doing administrative tasks.
• Share patient information with other physicians and referrals to ensure patient care.
• Improve clinical efficiency.
• Reduce long-term cost.
• Ensure compliance with healthcare regulations.