When you’re running your own private practice, there are many parts of the business to manage. With so many systems and processes, it’s easy to get confused between them! Quickbooks & Electronic Health Records (EHR) are just two of the things that need to be clarified.

In speaking with practitioners, I’ve found that there is some confusion over what an Electronic Health Record (EHR) can do. While digital health records are extremely helpful in managing patient care efficiently, there are limits to their scope. For example, EHRs cannot generate invoices, nor can they manage financial records. EHRs are solely concerned with patient data. This is the main difference between Quickbooks and EHR.

So, let’s clear things up and take a look at what EHRs can do and the software you can use instead to coordinate your finances.

What Is an Electronic Health Record (EHR)?

An EHR is essentially the digital version of patient notes. It replicates electronically what was traditionally kept on paper. An EHR may be used to complement paper notes, or it can be a complete replacement and there are many benefits to using them.

Firstly, the data contained within each record is accurate in real time. All relevant information can be accessed in just a few clicks, and as soon as a practitioner has updated it, it’s available within the system to anyone with authorised access. This is particularly relevant when dealing with patients who are seeing other healthcare professionals so the standard of care is maintained.

EHRs are also more secure than paper records. There’s no need to worry about pages being torn out, lost, accessed without permission, or destroyed. Instead, digital records are kept within protected software that can only be seen by those with permission.

Using EHRs also helps you in the process of billing patients. You’ll be able to see exactly which therapies a patient has received and the dates of treatment. This is likely where the confusion surrounding EHRs and finance comes in. While having access to accurate records of treatment does help you to charge correctly, it doesn’t do the bookkeeping for you.

Does EHR Software Manage Bookkeeping?

Unfortunately not. EHR software will give you information about the services you’ve provided to patients, but it won’t generate invoices, allow you to keep financial data or give you the financial analytics needed for tax season or future forecasting. For those tasks, and general financial management, you’ll need separate software.

Which Software Can I Use for Finance?

There are several reputable brands of software used by freelance professionals to manage their bookkeeping. One of the most popular is QuickBooks Online, which is a cloud-based accounting system that helps you keep track of your expenses, issue invoices to patients or clients, pay your employees, and estimate taxes.

Like all cloud-based software, you don’t need to download anything to use QuickBooks Online; just log in to your account – anywhere in the world – and you’ll have the ability to take care of the most important financial tasks.

Keeping Sensitive Information Safe

Remember that it’s crucial to keep identifiable patient data separate from financial information for privacy reasons. QuickBooks Online is a secure system that meets industry requirements, but it is not compliant with HIPAA standards for privacy. So while an EHR will inform what you bill your patients or clients, the two sets of data should not interact in such a way that privacy is jeopardised.

I hope that this has made the differences between Quickbooks and EHR have become clear. If you need help or advice, contact me and I can let you know which bookkeeping software would suit your practice the best.