The past year has been challenging for every single one of us and unprecedented in so many ways. Agencies that provide mental health services have been hit particularly hard. They have had to pivot in order to provide therapy to clients online or over the phone, and problem solve so that those who are most in need of services are still able to receive them. The communities that these agencies serve are often the communities that have been hit the hardest by COVID-19. Mental health agencies have done an amazing job of finding a way to continue to serve their clients; electronic heath record (EHR) technology is adapting to this changing environment so that virtual client care is easier for agencies to provide.
Another significant factor that is increasing the need for virtual client care and document exchange is the 21st Century CURES Act. The CURES Act includes Information Blocking requirements which now requires mental health agencies have to make client information available to those who have the right to access it. The information has to be easy to access and must be provided in a timely manner. EHR’s need to make it easy for agencies to share the necessary information they want to so that they can comply with the requirements of the CURES Act.
Exym Behavioral Health EHR’s Chief Product Officer, Paolo Bettoni, describes these new needs best; “For many years, care was provided by therapists meeting clients in person. You’d walk into the building, say hi to the receptionist, enter the therapist’s office and have a conversation. If you needed to sign any paperwork, you were handed a pen. If you wanted a printed copy of your medications, you just asked for it. Today expectations and regulation are changing, and EHR’s need to guarantee people have the same quality of service. For example, you should be able to have a conversation with your therapist via chat, or telehealth without going to the office. You should be able to sign paperwork from anywhere in the world. You should be able to receive a copy of relevant documentation without having to go anywhere. That’s how EHR’s need to change to address the needs in our country.”
Exym Behavioral Health EHR has solved this problem with Exym Engage. Exym Engage is a set of thoughtfully curated tools designed to support remote work and virtual client care. The product facilitates the execution of electronic signatures, secure document exchange, and unlimited telehealth engagement with clients. Exym Engage is fully HIPAA compliant and provides the mental health professional with the tools they need to comply with the 21st Century CURES Act. It is easy for agencies, clinicians and clients to use, and can replaces some of the cumbersome process agencies have been using to provide care this past year by centralizing those processes into one simple to use solution.
Bettoni’s response when asked what made Exym realize there was a need for the development of Exym Engage; “Two main forces: COVID and the CURES act. Covid drastically accelerated the need to provide care beyond physical locations, and the CURES act is a push to make medical information accessible and easily interchangeable. Once we saw the change in culture, we saw an opportunity to look at things in a new light and build an experience that would allow everybody involved to focus on the most important thing: receiving and delivering care.”
Exym is committed to making this new solution easy for clinicians and agencies to use, especially in light of the lengths they have gone to in order to make sure clients have continuity of care while maintaining security and regulatory compliance this past year. Exym has a long history of working with provider partners to design a system that does not just meet compliance requirements but identifies opportunities to help clinicians and staff deliver the best outcomes possible for clients. With the Engage solution, Exym is offering remote trainings for agencies and staff, as well as phone and chat support in English and Spanish for clients who may need additional support. Importantly, Exym Engage is designed to be extremely intuitive and easy-to-use.
Bettoni said one thing he has learned while creating this solution was that he would “come to appreciate the service our customers provide to their clients even more. Despite the challenges of COVID people were able to find a way. Did you know that agencies often use couriers that go house to house? They have these huge, sanitized, zip-lock style bags that they prepare. They visit their patients, drop of the package, let the patient read and sign, then pick up the package again and bring it back to the office. The complexities and overhead of this type of logistic is really an indication of how committed agencies are to the important work they are doing. That was an eye opener for us and we said to ourselves ‘We have to give them something better that makes their life easier.’”
Behavioral Health EHR companies need to support the important work that mental health agencies do so that they can deliver the best possible client care. Exym Engage empowers clinicians to do the work that matters with an easy-to-use solution for virtual client care and compliance.
Exym is a leader in EHR software for behavioral health agencies. We proudly serve agencies across California with our intuitive, robust behavioral health EHR system. 45,000+ clients per month are served by clinicians who use Exym’s EHR software to simplify their billing, documenting, and case management needs. As an EHR company in California, Exym is built to meet California’s unique needs and regulations. For more information, visit www.exym.com.
