An Electronic Health Record (EHR) is an online version of a patient’s charting note. Electronic Health Records are a secure way to replace paper charts that naturally accumulate as client load increases. In the past decade, the healthcare industry has been making heavy shifts from paper to electronic charting, due to requirements set for in the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act of 2009. HITECH aimed to advance the adoption and meaningful use of electronic health records (EHRs) among hospitals and other healthcare systems.

As more healthcare professionals have adopted EHR systems, data is able to show that not only do EHRs help streamline organizations, but they can improve client care and outcomes.

Now with more affordable and widely available EHR platforms on the market, wellness practitioners with businesses large and small are making the transition online with nutritionist specific software. If you’re looking to make a smooth transition to online and telehealth, Heathie’s practice management software is the solution. Learn more about our free starter account today.

Choosing a Nutritionist EHR platform for your business

As you begin to research nutrition software for dieticians and EHR systems, you’ll quickly realize that most EHR systems offer more than just client charting. With a host of EHR features, capabilities, specialties, and customizations, it can be daunting to choose one system that will be an ideal fit for your nutritional care business.

To help you get started, we’ve listed out important features and considerations for your nutrition business. As you review this list of features, sit down and think of what is essential for your wellness practice. Highlight the features that your business needs, and then mark off the ones that would be convenient add-ons. The ideal EHR platform on  your nutritionist software wellness business will check-off all of the boxes in your “need” list, and most of the features in your “want” list. Whether your practice is large and well established, or a digital health startup, Healthie can work for you. To test out these features for free, click here.

Technical Features

When starting out your EHR research, there are some basic technical requirements to consider. Think through what will be important for your nutrition practice — do you want the flexibility to access your office from any location? Do you need the convenience of a mobile app? Are you a solo practitioner, or do you plan to have multiple wellness providers using the account?

Highlighting the technical features you require will help you to quickly narrow down the nutritionist  EHR platforms that will work for your business.

✔️ HIPAA compliant

✔️ PCI compliant (to store client financial information)

✔️ Cloud-based

✔️ Mobile App

✔️ Supports multi-provider practices  

✔️ Transfer support

EHR Features

Along with client charting and paperwork, a nutritionist software with an EHR platform  can include many additional features. As most EHR platforms are designed for medical doctors, the standard charting forms and features may not fit the needs of other wellness professionals. Think through your specialty and client-base — how much customizations would you like to have over your charting forms and client paperwork? The more tailored your EHR is for your business, the better your client experience. If you’re working with a high client load, or want to scale your nutrition practice quickly, then time-saving features like automated e-paperwork, e-signatures, and charting autofill options may be critical to your business.

✔️ Charting templates that work for your clients (SOAP notes, ADIME)

✔️ Form builder

✔️ Customizable forms

✔️ Automated E-paperwork for clients

✔️ Vitals and metrics tracking

✔️ Client care plans + templates

✔️ Charting autofill capabilities  

✔️ E-signatures

Billing Capabilities

Depending on how your wellness business is financially set up, having the right billing capabilities is an important consideration.

For insurance-based practices, being able to create your insurance claims directly within your EHR improves claims accuracy and processing times. Do you need to create CMS 1500 claims, Superbills, and invoice clients? Furthermore, there may be additional integrations, such as with a clearinghouse, that can be convenient for your billing process.

In self-pay practices, or to accept client-owed responsibilities from insurance-based clients, you’ll want to consider how you will collect client payment information, store it, and process payments. Some nutritionist EHR platforms allow you to link with a payment processor, while others have a payment processing system directly within the product. Healthie’s new free Starter plan can handle all of your billing needs, sign up for a free account today.

✔️ CMS 1500 claims creation

✔️ Superbills creation

✔️ Client invoicing

✔️ Financial reports

✔️ Link bank account to EHR for payments received

✔️ Build client packages

✔️ Payment processing

Additional EHR Features and Benefits

Beyond charting for clients, EHR platforms can also include additional features that will help you run your wellness business efficiently, and engage with your clients. Some EHR platforms have a client-facing side, where clients receive a portal login. From there, they can have access to certain information, connect with their wellness providers, and more. Many health and wellness providers use a multitude of technologies to run their businesses. Seeking out a practice management platform for nutritionists that integrates EHR with additional capabilities can be an effective way to save on expenses, and streamline business. With Healthie, you can get all these benefits for $0. Think through which “add-ons” you’re currently using, and which may be crucial for your new EHR platform.

✔️ E-fax

✔️ Telehealth (1:1 calls and/or group calls)

✔️ Documents/resources storage and sharing

✔️ Client access/portal

✔️ Client messaging

✔️ Client engagement features (client journaling, food tracking, goal setting, etc)

✔️ Custom reports

✔️ Custom branding

✔️ Programs and online client education courses

✔️ Task list

Integrations

✔️ Calendar + appointment scheduling

✔️ Clearinghouse (ie Office Ally)

✔️ Zoom

✔️ Calendar Syncing (iCal, Gmail)

✔️ E-Prescribing

✔️ Supplement recommendations (ie Fullscript)

✔️ Wearable health trackers (ie Fitbit, Apple Health)

Customer Support

✔️ Live classes to learn features

✔️ Easy way to connect with support team

✔️ Dedicated customer success manager

✔️ 24/7 tech support

✔️ Ongoing educational classes for the nutrition and wellness industry

Looking for a nutritionist software EHR platform for dietitians that checks all the boxes?

Healthie is an all-in-one practice management platform created for nutrition, health, and wellness professionals. Fully HIPAA-compliant, Healthie offers a nutritionist EHR platform, along with all of the additional tools you need to run your business. From scheduling to billing, to client engagement, you’ll have all of the tools you need to be successful in one place.

With plans that are designed to grow with you, Healthie supports wellness professionals who are just starting out, to group practices and organizations. Get started with Healthie for free, signup for your trial today.