Benefits of the Electronic Medical Record

It is important that this patient information is taken completely and thoroughly to eliminate errors in the EMRs. In addition to this, importance duplicate entries need to be eliminated to ensure proper patient information is collected. If duplication occurs, it could cause a missed diagnosis because the provider may not have a complete EMR.

The EMR is a great tool for healthcare providers to assist the patient with the best care, and knowing and tracking the patient condition is vital.

Benefits of the EMR

• ”Immediate physician access to patient information from within either the hospital or the clinic
• ”Improvement in creation of timely and complete medical record, benefiting patient care
• ”Elimination of “lost” information in the record
• ”Improvement in turnaround time for scheduling patient appointments and follow-up visits
• ”Improvement in timeliness and access to billing information
• ”Improvement in capability for abstracting research data
• ”Improvement in access to quality management data
• ”Elimination of faxing, copying, and mailing of patient information between hospital, clinic, and physicians’ office
• ”Reduction of clerical personnel involved in record movement and record retrieval

”Additional cost reductions projected as system performance improves.” (Austin & Boxerman, 2003, p. 326).

Immediate physician access to patient information is very important to the physician because at this time the physician can begin the diagnosis of the patient. The same demographics of the patient can be captured once and transferred to hospital, clinic and physicians’ office.

The improvement in the creation of timely and complete electronic medical records, benefits patient care. When this is accomplished, the patient has a chance at an accurate diagnosis. This is an excellent benefit for patient advocacy because when this information is collected it will follow the patient throughout their experience with the healthcare facility. The physician can review the vital signs taken by healthcare staff and provide an accurate diagnosis. This can be very beneficial.

Elimination of “lost” information in the record can be very timely for the patient. Lost information can be very aggravating for patients. It definitely wastes time and this can make the patient lose confidence in the healthcare process. If healthcare facilities can capture this patient information correctly it definitely gives the patient confidence that they will be treated properly.

Improvement in turnaround time for scheduling patient appointments and follow-up visits helps the patient. Immediate or close to immediate service is vital when you are a patient. When the patient calls into the clinic and receives an appointment that day, it is crucial in the minor care and family practice setting. Improvement in timeliness and access to billing information is a very sensitive subject for the patient and a needed service for the healthcare facility. EMR helps with the correct service by the patient and ensures it is billed correctly to the patient. If patients receive the wrong service on their bill, it makes the healthcare facility appear unprofessional with their billing service. Confidence is lost by the patient towards the healthcare facility. When insurance gets involved, this creates a lot of problems for the patient and the healthcare facility and one of these problems is insurance denials.

Improvement in capability for abstracting research data is a benefit where the EMR physicians can sort information in the EMR of specific disease types like diabetes. The researchers’ employer Spartanburg Regional has a physician network that can track patients with diabetes using the EMR. Within minutes thousands of records can be sorted with name and phone numbers. In the old paper record method this would have taken months to accomplish and would have been much less efficient.

Improvement in access to quality management data can be beneficial for healthcare providers and patients because the EMR collects and stores patient information that can indicate the quality of care provided to the patient. This patient information can follow quality management data to prove that the healthcare provider is administering good care to the patients and it can identify areas for improvement.

Elimination of faxing, copying and mailing of patient information between hospital, clinic and physicians’ office is definitely a benefit to all parties involved in healthcare. The EMR can transmit patient information using email. This method can benefit the patient and can be secured to protect the patient’s medical record to ensure compliance with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) regulations.

Reduction of clerical personnel involved in record movement and record retrieval can save a healthcare provider a full-time employee (FTE). This always looks good to the CFOs and CEOs due to more money going toward the bottom-line. It could, in the long run, save money for the patient with reduction in healthcare costs.

Additional cost reductions, projected as system performance, improves by using the EMR. Healthcare providers can pay more attention to the patient instead of keeping up with all of the paper medical records like in the past.

Another good benefit is the EMR can control referrals and provide preventative measures for patients. EMR can research patients of a clinic and flag who may need a colonoscopy. EMRs can link to other services, like laboratory, and whenever new laboratory tests are conducted the new results will be updated into the EMR. Integration of these services is a great tool for the healthcare industry. “Technology advances will make it possible to combine medical data with visual representations as we move closer to the complete EMR,” (Medical Laboratory Observer, 2007).

It is very important when strategic planning is conducted for advancement, like installing and implementing an EMR into a practice, the Information Technology (IT) department and Finance department must be involved from the start. Strategic planning for healthcare IT is critical to ensuring that operating capital for IT related investments is spent appropriately and in accordance with strategic priorities. It is very important to involve the healthcare financial department as well as the clinical executives in the IT planning process and installing, and EMR is one of those opportunities.

Back to our original questions: Are electronic medical records necessary in the healthcare? How can electronic medicals records be managed more effectively?

EMRs are necessary in healthcare. The benefits to the patient and the healthcare provider and staff are well worth the investment of the EMR. Instant access to correct patient information can save lives and save money. With the rising cost of everything in healthcare, the EMR will cut costs in the long run. The EMR can be managed more effectively if it is strategically planned before implementation. Receiving the necessary input from the IT department, financial department and the clinical staff (physicians and nurses) will benefit all parties in this investment of quality patient care.

The healthcare provider needs a champion for the EMR to properly implement its use to the staff. The baby boomers may have more resistance to the EMR because of the computer use necessary for operation. Having the staff involved from the start can help minimize this resistance. Demonstrating how user friendly these programs are, makes it easier to win over the baby boomer staff who do not feel comfortable with computers.

With more and more integration of computer programs, the EMR can be connected to all service areas of the hospitals and/or clinics to capture all of the patients’ records and digitally transmit this patient information to wherever it may be needed. This is definitely a strong benefit that could change the minds of most critics of the EMR.