Electronic health records are revolutionizing the healthcare industry with more than 87 percent of physicians either in the process of implementing or already using an EHR throughout their day-to-day routines. More and more, EHRs are the glue that holds medical offices together. Efficient EHRs can significantly impact the quality of patient care, from wait times to quality of doctor consultations. Depending on if the EHR is integrated with a PM, it’s also the foundation for scheduling appointments, billing and other important administrative tasks. Unfortunately, EHRs are not all created equal and healthcare providers are unhappy with their present EHR software.

When you're running any sort of medical practice, regardless of specialty, it's important to focus on the human element of the business. When you spend time thinking about effective patient scheduling techniques, maintaining accurate electronic medical records and optimizing billing processes, it can be far too easy to view your practice as a business first. The truth, though, is that being professionally successful in the medical field is contingent, at least partially, upon maintaining excellent communication in all aspects of your practice. Even if you feel that you've cracked the code, you may want to take a look at these tips for improving communication within your practice:

More than ever, it's incredibly important for medical professionals to do everything they can to maintain patient satisfaction. Studies show that physicians who engage in direct eye contact with patients are perceived as more empathetic and well-liked. This can be facilitated with mobile tools. Nextech's EHR solution works on both a PC and an iPad, allowing you to choose the best device for patient interaction. With the iPad app, you can keep direct eye contact in the exam room and even stay connected to your patients and your practice wherever you go.

With the EHR Incentive program and other initiatives to make health care more engaging, the patient portal is more important than ever. However, as revealed at the 2015 Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society conference, portal technology has largely fallen short when it comes to fostering engagement.

Regardless of the specialty in which you work, having effective practice management techniques will be key to your success in the medical world. Simply put, no matter how strong the care you provide to your patients is, you won't be getting everything you can out of your practice unless your management is as close to perfect as possible. While there will always be some level of inevitable mistakes in this sort of work, it's important to recognize that a continual, ongoing evaluation and adjustment of your practice management techniques can be extremely beneficial to you, your staff and your patients. Take a look at these key tips, suggestions and techniques to help you avoid a practice management epic fail:

Things have changed a lot since that epic and historic moment, all those years ago, when Al Gore invented the internet (and yet, oddly enough, his name isn’t mentioned once in the history of the internet). Just kidding… About Al Gore, not about things changing. They have changed. A lot… Especially when it comes to how we use the internet. And I’m not just referring to the shocking number of people who ended up using it primarily just to look at pictures of cats. Originally, searching the internet required a desktop computer with a dialup modem that would scream at the user until a connection was established (remember that sound?). These days, we have Wi-Fi that allows us to access the internet from various devices—desktops, laptops, tablets, smartphones, and even our cars.

Recent advancements in technology have put mobile devices in the spotlight in the healthcare industry. More physicians and specialists are harnessing the power, mobility and convenience of smartphones and tablets in clinical settings, using them to view electronic medical records, schedule appointments and display clinical information for patients without the need of a full personal computer setup. The increasing prominence of these platforms in healthcare settings has spurred an accelerated development of medical software applications.

Transcript Hello, and welcome to the Nextech blog! Today we will be speaking about how to improve and increase use of your patient portal. First and foremost, Medical Practice Insider reports that you'll need to make sure that your patients are aware of the patient portal and how to use it. While they may not know the ins and outs of electronic medical records, you should take some time out of their next visit to introduce them to the concept and field any initial questions. Physicians could spend a couple of extra minutes with patients to educate them on benefits of a patient portal and answer their questions. It might also be helpful to have a portal kiosk on site where they can set up their account while they wait.