According to Health IT, 79 percent of all providers report that their practice functions more efficiently after the implementation of an EHR. Still, it's important to consider the ways in which we can continue to use these technologies to optimize documentation practices.

Advancements in technology have made mobility possible in the clinic, and it goes well beyond the use of smartphones for sending patient appointment reminders. With tablet computers, physicians and specialists can access patient records anyplace and any time and walk from room to room while continuously charting. Along with enhancing convenience, it promotes patient engagement and can improve workflow.

Electronic medical records are a necessity in the health care industry, as they're simple to access and keep patient information safe and secure at all times. The fact that these records are mobile means physicians can use their iPads to update patient charts with current and accurate information. Here are just a few ways that mobile tools can benefit your practice:

As patients assume increasing responsibility for personal healthcare costs, determining eligibility has become essential to patient satisfaction—and to protecting the practice’s revenue cycle. When patients who are accustomed to incurring only minor co-pays receive bills that are far greater than expected, those who can’t pay or resist payment can represent very difficult collections. This can be especially problematic for specialty practices that have different co-pays from primary care providers or services that may require referral or preauthorization for coverage.

Earlier this year, research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed that more than 78 percent of office-based physicians were using an electronic medical record. As physicians become increasingly familiar with EMRs, they are demanding more from their solutions to help them boost productivity. More often than not, they are looking for one main thing: mobility. According to research released by Black Book Rankings in May 2013, of the one-in-five physician practices surveyed that were considering switching their EMR vendor, 100 percent expected any new EMR to allow doctors to access patient data no matter where the care was being delivered.

One of the best ways to get physicians to adopt electronic medical records (EMR) is to ensure entering information in the system doesn’t disrupt their workflow. But for many physicians, sitting at the computer to type in notes during a patient visit is time consuming, causing many to feel that it detracts from the quality of care they provide. The icing on the cake? A recent report from IDC Health Insights shows decreased physician productivity after an EMR implementation due to workflow disruptions. One of the best ways practices can avoid these pitfalls is to look for EMRs that have integrated dictation capabilities. Many physicians make a voice recording of medical notes for transcription later and have been doing it that way for years. However, with integrated dictation capabilities, physicians are now able to add necessary notes to the EMR using only voice commands while meeting with the patient. This medical speech recognition technology accurately “types” the notes directly into the medical record in real time as they are spoken, rather than hours after the patient’s visit. The ease of adding notes in a manner that is consistent with the physician’s workflow fosters greater adoption and also improves practice efficiency.