Why pediatricians need specialized EHR software

The American Academy of Pediatrics claims that nearly 80% of pediatricians adopted EHR systems as early as 2012, but only 8% of them had practice-specific functionality. More than ten years passed, but the features and advantages of pediatric EHR are still discussed within the healthcare community. The representatives of Stanford University’s School of Medicine conducted a study in 2021 proving that specialized EHRs improve the efficiency of pediatric organizations. Let’s dissect why EHRs with pediatrics-specific features prove to be so beneficial.

How pediatric workflows differ from general practice

Pediatricians and family, or general practice, physicians have much in common since they belong to primary care specialists. However, there are a lot of significant differences between these two types of professions, so the EHR software cannot have identical feature sets. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality even presented a study that suggests EHRs lacking pediatrics-specific functionality could threaten patient safety. 

Here are the five most prominent aspects of pediatric care that should be covered by the dedicated electronic records software: 

1. Children develop quickly, so their health metrics change quite often and need to be constantly updated. Pediatricians must consider developmental specifics for accurate diagnosis and treatment.
2. The metabolic processes vary for different age groups, so medication dosages should be calculated individually for each one.
3. Children on average undergo more vaccinations than adults, which should be recorded in the immunization plan.
4. Most educational and recreational institutions require parents and physicians to share children’s health information annually.
5. Data privacy regulations for minors have an additional layer of rules like COPPA in the US, therefore pediatric EHRs have to comply with them as well as standard healthcare industry data protection regulations. 

Must-have capabilities of pediatric EHR

The basic pediatric EHR functionality is very similar to general-use solutions – the difference lies in additional modules. It’s crucial to point out that “additional” doesn’t mean “unnecessary” here. Forcing pediatricians to employ the same EHR setups as general practitioners would hinder their productivity, increasing the risk of mistakes and burnout. The general-use EHR can be tuned and upgraded to fit pediatric practice’s requirements but, as a rule, it’s best to implement a system developed for a pediatric practice from the beginning.

Growth and development charting

Understanding children’s physical and psychological development dynamics helps pediatricians spot abnormalities and prevent any potential health issues. Additionally, the same illnesses have different symptoms depending on the patient’s physical characteristics, so pediatricians must know the real vital metrics of each child.

Age-appropriate medication dosing templates

Pediatric EHRs are equipped with medication dosage templates based on age-appropriate standards. They also contain allergy information fields that are obligatory to fill out before starting a medication so that crucial data about adverse effect risks won’t get lost or overlooked.

Immunization management

EHRs help pediatricians keep track of the vaccination schedule as they not only contain a full record of administered vaccines (including date, vaccine type and manufacturer, adverse reactions, etc.) but can also notify users about upcoming deadlines. 

Easy generation of back-to-school, sports, and physical forms

Medical professionals don’t have to waste hours creating and filling out forms requested by various institutions. Thus, pediatric EHRs streamline data exchange with organizations outside the healthcare setting, making childcare better for all participants.

Special care needs management

Each medical professional and caregiver coming into contact with a special needs child must know all details about their health condition. Because such syndromes influence all medical aspects of one’s life, EHR can automatically alert healthcare professionals about double-checking the existing immunization schedule, medication dosage templates, and other pre-defined parameters for such children.

 A child abuse reporting system

While pediatricians are obligated to file a report if they suspect child abuse, it is vital for the children's safety that the report is handled properly. With pediatric EHR in place, all patients’ data (including possible proof of abuse) is stored, transferred, and disposed of according to AAP regulations, which are different from those applicable to adult patients’ information.

A word about usability

While not enough specialized functionality is one side of the issue, overcomplicated systems can cause problems as well.

NEJM Journal claims that pediatricians spend 16 minutes per patient on EHR-related tasks. A huge chunk of this time is spent after hours, which is understandably frustrating for medical professionals. As a result, many doctors are reluctant to use electronic health records at all. This is an adverse trend, considering EHRs’ crucial part of the US healthcare industry, particularly in providing vital data for further analysis, enhancing health outcomes, and protecting patient information.

To benefit from EHR software adoption without putting the additional workload on pediatricians, an organization should carefully approach the system’s implementation. Don’t fall for a misconception that the more features, the better, listen to pediatricians’ opinions while selecting a platform, and adopt one that covers their requirements.

Summing up

Healthcare organizations all over the world have proved the importance of using electronic health records. However, pediatric organizations still suffer either a lack of specialized features in the system, which prevents healthcare professionals from exchanging vital patient information, or from overcomplicating the system with unnecessary functionality, which adds to pediatricians’ workload and overwhelms them. In this scenario, implementing EHR software designed specifically for pediatric organizations is the guaranteed way to benefit both patients and physicians.