Effective behavioral health treatment plans require a village of caregivers. They need smooth integration and visibility into a multi-disciplinary effort, working cross-departmentally with shared resources and objectives. Next generation EHRs like Juno Health can provide critical care visibility and coordination.
Recently, a study investigated the impact of EHRs on the information practices in mental health contexts found the following:
- EHRs improved the amount of information documented compared with paper.
- However, mental health-related information was regularly missing from EHRs, especially sensitive information.
- EHRs introduced more standardized and formalized documentation practices that raised issues because of the focus on narrative information in the mental health context.
- EHRs were found to disrupt information workflows in the mental health context, especially when they did not include appropriate templates or care plans.
- Usability issues also contributed to workflow concerns.
- Managing the documentation of sensitive information in EHRs was problematic; clinicians sometimes watered-down sensitive information or chose to keep it in separate records.
Advanced Treatment Plans Functionality
Our EHR solution offers functionality tailored to treatment plan requirements. Juno EHR for Behavioral Health is an intuitive solution that provides the personalization your organization needs to adapt to individual needs and keep up with regulatory changes.
It provides real-time patient information and convenient review options and makes it easy to create and maintain the “Golden Thread” of care. Multiple clinicians can easily attach assessments and notes directly to the treatment plan, preventing gaps in patient information.
Juno EHR for Behavioral Health provides a central pane of glass through which all contributions to patient care can be viewed. This allows for precise monitoring and planning of care, constantly modifying it based on progress or challenges.
For example, consider a patient enrolled in therapy sessions. Using our Session Manager features, all caregivers can review the patient's schedule, attendance records, therapy notes, and progress. Changes to the schedule can be made easily within the system rather than by email or telephone. Without such visibility, multidisciplinary care can become tedious and dangerous, with essential information falling through the cracks.
Juno EHR for Behavioral Health doesn’t let that happen. It powers treatment plans with:
- Seamless information flow-through – Treatment plan details can be automatically transferred into provider notes, Session Manager and Group Notes for reference, documenting plan progress, and capturing group session attendance. This eliminates the need for double entry.
- User-led customization – Juno EHR can be adjusted to meet unique patient or provider needs while having built-in templates and content from Wiley Open Access Journals, high-quality, peer-reviewed original research across a broad range of scientific disciplines.
- Single dashboard convenience– Progress notes, therapy notes, medications, diagnoses can be entered and viewed from a single source.
- Session scheduling – Full scheduling functionality within the module. The calendar can show staff preferences, peer conflicts, and patient preferences – e.g., patient Matt does not prefer counselor Kevin. This way, the patient can feel empowered and vested in their treatment.
Plus, Juno EHR adheres to all CMS guidelines, promoting patient safety and ensuring care is adequately documented for reimbursement.
Lack of EHR Utilization
Unfortunately, many behavioral health providers either have no EHR at all or legacy EHRs that can hamper care coordination.
A recent study looked at the barriers to EHR adoption in the behavioral health field. Only 49 percent of psychiatric hospitals use certified EHRs vs. 96 percent of general and surgical facilities. A major reason for this discrepancy is that psychiatric facilities and care were not part of the 2009 HITECH Act, which provided funds for hospitals to deploy and document “meaningful use” of EHRs.
Possible Funding
In addition to superior tools like Juno EHR, progress is being made in the behavioral health arena on the funding front as well. Congress has recognized the mistake of not including behavioral health providers in HITECH. The Behavioral Health Information Technology (BHIT) Coordination Act would dedicate $20 million a year in grant funding over five fiscal years (FY 25-29) to mental health, substance use disorder, and other behavioral health providers to purchase or upgrade health information technology and support services.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has published a Special Emphasis Notice (SEN) under the Leading Edge Acceleration Projects (LEAP) in Health Information Technology (Health IT) funding opportunity for fiscal year 2024.
One area of interest focuses on designing, developing, and piloting lightweight health IT solutions that can enhance health IT capabilities in behavioral health settings and improve care coordination between behavioral health and clinical healthcare settings. An award of up to $1 million for each area of interest, totaling up to $2 million for the two awards, is expected in the fiscal year 2024.
Choosing the Right Behavioral Health EHR
Once you’re ready to choose an EHR, it’s important to implement one that can support your behavioral health operation. Juno Health understands the challenges faced by behavioral health teams. Our solutions are designed by clinicians, for clinicians.
With Juno's Behavioral Health EHR solution, you can centralize patient records under a single dashboard, maintain schedules, and uphold patient confidentiality at all times.
Please contact us here to learn more about how Juno Health is dedicated to building smarter, more flexible digital healthcare solutions.
