What is the effect of electronic health records (EHR) on the revenue cycle?

Electronic health records (EHR) significantly enhance documentation accuracy, which is crucial for the revenue cycle in healthcare. Improved documentation leads to better coding and billing practices, reducing the chances of claim denials and delays in revenue collection. Accurate and comprehensive patient information ensures that healthcare providers can make informed clinical decisions and bill appropriately for the services delivered.

With precise documentation, providers can capture all relevant health issues, treatments, and procedures performed, ensuring that billing accurately reflects the services rendered. This not only benefits healthcare organizations financially but also supports better patient care by facilitating better communication and continuity of care.

In contrast, other options suggest negative impacts—such as increased patient waiting time, more manual data entry, or complications in billing processes—none of which align with the primary benefits that EHR systems are designed to provide. EHRs are implemented to streamline processes, reduce errors, and ultimately improve the efficiency of the revenue cycle. Therefore, the enhancement of documentation accuracy stands out as the most significant positive effect of EHR on the revenue cycle.