5 Reasons Why You Should Adopt a Ketamine-Specific EHR
Jimmy Qian and Lucia Huang (Co-Founders of Osmind)
This post was written by Lucia Huang, Co-founder and CEO of Osmind. It includes affiliate links and if you sign up with them you will get a 10% discount plus complimentary access to their proprietary superbill coding guide. Be sure to mention “Ketamine Startup” to get your discount & bonus guide! You can sign up for a demo here. For any questions, please email sales@osmind.org.
Ah, the search for the perfect EHR… every provider’s favorite part of their startup clinic journey. Thankfully, the words “Electronic Health Record” don’t have to strike fear in your heart if you know exactly what you are looking for. In this article, we break down why a ketamine EHR will save you time and help you deliver a better patient experience.
First off, does it even make sense for you to get a ketamine-specific EHR?
We talked to hundreds of clinicians around the country who believe that having a ketamine EHR for ketamine patients is beneficial, whether you’re starting a brand new clinic focused on ketamine or adding ketamine to your existing practice.
Here are the five main reasons why:
1. Ketamine treatment protocols require brand new workflows
A good ketamine EHR should save you time because it is purpose-built for these types of treatments. Ketamine-specific chart notes, patient follow-ups, and more are critical for efficiently and effectively delivering ketamine treatment to patients and scaling your clinic. These entries are also crucial to defend your practice from a med-legal perspective, more on this below.
Many providers told us their existing EHR did not have any relevant documentation for ketamine, so they ended up typing out lengthy notes, or even worse, scanning in loose papers to each patient’s chart. Others were using pen and paper and accumulating stacks of paperwork. Providers we spoke with saved on average 15 minutes per patient visit by using an EHR that could automate their workflow. That’s hundreds of dollars of opportunity cost daily.
An EHR like Osmind EHR, which is specifically designed for ketamine practices has fully electronic intake, ketamine treatment chart notes, and outcomes tracking.
For example, view Osmind EHR’s clinical note, built by a team with 25+ years of clinical experience with ketamine. The note is organized exactly in the order of a patient’s treatment: from ROS/MSE/eval to dosing and vitals to discharge. The clinical note can even be duplicated so that during each subsequent infusion, you can start from the same information from the previous infusion. Make sure to look for an EHR that is iPad-friendly so you or your nurse can carry it into the treatment room.
2. Using a ketamine-specific EHR is the best way to protect you from liability
Although, the off-label usage of ketamine is legal, risk mitigation is crucial.
In the case of malpractice protection and for the benefit of the patient, it is crucial to document all necessary information. For example, the American Society of Ketamine Practitioners (ASKP) recommends a complete evaluation for each patient prior to commencing treatments, documentation of dosing and adjunctive medications during the treatment itself, and closely monitoring for behavioral emergencies such as the emergence or worsening of suicidal thoughts, psychotic or manic symptoms throughout the course of treatment.
Osmind EHR’s clinical note was designed by Dr. L. Alison McInnes, founder of Kaiser Permanente’s ketamine program and part of ASKP’s Certification Committee, and abides by the above guidelines.
3. Ketamine patients have additional needs that traditional EHRs may not fully address
Being patient-centric is even more important in the case of ketamine for a number of reasons:
These patients’ mental health conditions are often higher acuity or treatment resistant. We have an opportunity and responsibility to help
The unfortunate reality is that there is still public risk and stigma, meaning using evidence-based practices is even more crucial
From a business standpoint, patient word-of-mouth referrals and reviews are incredibly powerful especially for ketamine. Ensuring they have a good experience will help you generate more business
Tracking patient outcomes will allow you to identify when patients may need maintenance treatments
4. Allows for mood tracking to facilitate measurement-based care
Measurement-based care (MBC) is an evidence-based practice that refers to the systematic evaluation of patient progress throughout a treatment, including systematic administration of symptom rating scales, which helps drive clinical decision-making in a personalized manner. MBC has been shown in the literature to be important for enhancing mental health care outcomes [Source].
Ketamine specialists should use measurement-based care (MBC), which improves clinical outcomes, therapeutic efficiency, and patient adherence.
This is especially important for higher acuity ketamine patients.
Thankfully, Osmind EHR is the only EHR to fully automate this process. With Osmind, you pick between 25+ validated mental health and pain questionnaires and set an automated cadence to send them to your patients. Patients can even respond to these questionnaires on-the-go via the Osmind mobile app.
A good EHR should allow you to not only send these questionnaires, but to also receive them seamlessly to inform your clinical decision making. An EHR like Osmind automatically scores and graphs patient reported outcomes (see red line below). It even allows you to compare patients’ outcomes before and after treatments (vertical grey lines).
Picking an EHR that is strong on mood tracking should also allow you to track patients’ maintenance needs more easily. An effective EHR should completely automate this process.
For example, in Osmind, clinicians can set notifications to get alerted if patients cross a certain questionnaire score threshold. This could save you and your staff up to half an hour daily not having to chase down patient follow-ups.
5. Provides the ability for your patients to potentially get extra financial support via superbills
It can be heartbreaking to see patients struggling to afford their ketamine treatments given it’s largely uncovered by insurance.
Most ketamine providers offer superbills to their patients, which allow patients to work with their insurance companies to try to obtain out-of-network insurance. If you are providing this service to your patient, it is important to caveat to them that reimbursement is not guaranteed, given it highly depends on the specific insurance company and plan. If the patient does receive reimbursement, it typically comes in the form of an EOB (Explanation of Benefits) in the mail, and could be a check or applied directly to their deductible.
A good EHR should be able to automate this whole process for you. For example, Osmind EHR allows you to pull a superbill each time you see a patient.
Furthermore, Osmind EHR even allows patients to submit their superbills free of charge directly through their patient portal. Osmind works with the patient’s insurance company to try to get as much money back as possible. After submitting thousands of claims, Osmind even has a proprietary guidebook on what codes they’ve seen work best.
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It’s important to remember that your ketamine clinic EHR does not need to cause you headaches - if you choose wisely, it should be able to save you time, ultimately allowing you to spend more time with your patients!
You can sign up for a demo here. Be sure to mention “Ketamine Startup” to get your 10% discount plus complimentary access to Osmind’s proprietary superbill coding guide. For any questions, please email sales@osmind.org.
