What Are Electronic Health Records, And How Do You Use Them?

Dec 28

Electronic Medical Record (EMR)

With each passing year, technology grows more entwined with ordinary life, and it is gradually expanding into the health-care sector. The electronic health record provides a unique approach for health care institutions to maintain track of patient records, allowing them to move away from the paper records that have created so many difficulties for so long.

An electronic health record (EHR) is a digital or electronic version of a normal patient medical document that covers all aspects of a patient's general health and follows them for years through the medical system.

All important health information is contained in electronic health records, including but not limited to:

A list of medical problems
Surgical procedures performed previously
Medications on the market now
Vital signs taken recently
All values obtained in the laboratory
Reports on radiology and pathology
Notes on Provider Progress
Discharge document from the hospital
Demographic data on the patient

It also provides patients with a gateway via which they may connect with their doctors, submit relevant health-care data, and manage their own health care for better illness prevention.

Electronic health records may also exchange data with a variety of different medical practitioners, resulting in a streamlined procedure that aims to provide patients the best possible health outcomes.

A physician, for example, can utilize the EHR to interact with other members of his or her team, specialists, pharmacists, and laboratory employees. When clinically necessary, an EHR can also be shared with companies and schools.

What Are The Functions Of Electronic Health Records (EHRs)?

Electronic health records, unlike the cumbersome and complex paper charts of the past, which could only be viewed by one person at a time, are live documents that move and evolve with a patient. It depicts their overall health and aids professionals in achieving the best possible results for patients. Because of the excellent outcomes they give, these electronic records are now viewed as critical components of health care as a whole.

Make Health-Care Information Available To The Public

For starters, the EHR allows physicians, other professionals, and patients direct access to their whole medical information. As previously stated, this comprises all pertinent past and present medical histories, key demographic data that may influence the type of treatment provided, and reports from all doctors who have treated the patient. Clinicians may also utilize bits and pieces of this information to make the best decisions for their patients and deliver outcome-based treatment.

Despite the fact that doctors now have more patients to see than ever before, documentation remains a critical component of high-quality health care. EHRs aid in the speeding up and simplification of this process, allowing doctors to continue to give the best possible treatment. EHRs may be shared with clinicians at different medical institutions since they are developed with a digital interface, allowing each clinician to have a comprehensive and accurate image of the patient.

All Patient Information Should Be Kept In One Place

Second, with the EHR, health care institutions no longer have to be concerned about a piece of information from a patient's file going missing. Instead, this digital record is saved in a single file on a server or in the cloud, where it may be accessed at any time by any authorized user. The information in the EHR is quickly accessible, allowing you to make quick decisions based on strong and reliable data. Providers may access information regarding allergies, concurrent diseases, most recent vaccine dates, and much more in real time, allowing them to make the best decisions for the patient's health. All of the material is well-organized and simple to find. In fact, because EHRs may be shared with other health-care systems, the patient's information can follow them across the country and to other doctors throughout their lives.

Who Uses Electronic Health Records (EHRs)?

Electronic health records are always kept in a secure environment on servers or in the cloud, with only authorized users having access to critical patient information. Those who have been given permission to read and edit the record, on the other hand, may quickly and easily locate the information they require. Health care professionals and patients are the two main categories of individuals that utilize EHRs. To avoid exploitation of this data, biometric and two-step access methods are becoming increasingly prevalent.

1. Health-Care Professionals
EHRs were supposed to replace large and inconvenient paper charts for health care practitioners. Physicians may access historical patient histories, prescription data, and radiologic findings using this electronic chart. They can write new prescriptions, renew existing ones, arrange and evaluate lab and radiological investigations, and respond to patient comments.

They can also contact with other healthcare providers involved in the patient's treatment plan. Of fact, most doctors now use the EHR for the majority of their patient paperwork. Furthermore, provider teams may deal directly with billing statements and patient payments through the EHR, obviating the need for paper invoices.

2. Patients
Despite the fact that the EHR was created with the patient care provider in mind, patients today can benefit immensely from access to this record. The EHR is most commonly used by patients to communicate with their doctors, such as asking inquiries about new health conditions or receiving prescription instructions.

Patients may also be able to check their previous visit summaries, examine their test results as soon as they are available, request drug refills, and pay their fees, depending on the system. Some websites also provide health-education papers to assist individuals in taking a more active part in their own health care.

What Are The Benefits Of Using An Electronic Health Record?

An electronic health record may assist health care organizations of all sizes as well as patients in a variety of ways. These advantages vary from organizational benefits like cost savings and higher patient satisfaction scores to clinical ones like fewer medical mistakes and better patient care outcomes. Once doctors have grown used to the EHR system, they are able to give a greater quality of care to each of their patients while seeing more patients in less time.

Information Regarding Health Care That Is Well-Connected

Many health care companies use EHRs primarily to connect their patient care services across the whole system. Any computer terminal, including those in clinic offices, bedsides, and nurses' stations, has access to all information. These ties extend beyond the primary health-care system to additional health-care professionals who are involved in the patient's care. As a result, improved patient outcomes are ensured since all professionals work together to deliver the best possible treatment.

Reducing Medical Errors

EHR use has also been shown to minimize accidental medical mistakes over time. EHRs give doctors another way to examine drugs and laboratory values, and they may alert them to potential interactions, unsafe levels, and emergency health information that has to be addressed right away. As a result, when physicians don't have to worry about losing bits of the paper record, unintended medical mistakes are decreased.

Improvements in Health-Care Efficiency

EHRs can actually speed up physicians' work while enhancing their efficiency and productivity once they've been taught and implemented across the whole health-care system. The fundamental reason for this is that the clinician no longer needs to wait for a paper chart to arrive; instead, they may view the whole record from anywhere. Clinicians can save time by not having to parse sloppy written instructions, decreasing paperwork, speeding up the prescription process, and employing speech recognition software that is already embedded into the system. This also speeds up the invoicing process because insurance claim numbers may be created automatically.

Coordination Of Patient Care Has Improved

Many individuals migrate throughout the country these days, and even those who don't move much may discover that their health care systems change over time in their own towns. The EHR has the advantage of allowing the patient's entire medical record to accompany them wherever they go. This assures that no important health-care data is lost over time.

Patient Outcomes Have Improved

Because physicians can better treat and prevent numerous accidents and diseases when a patient's whole medical history accompanies them everywhere they go, they may expect improved medical outcomes. They won't have to worry about having to repeat operations or taking drugs that could interact with one another. Furthermore, the chart is constantly up to date.

There Will Be No More Paper Charts

Large storage facilities had to be dedicated to keeping paper records secure in the past, and significant sums of money were invested into administrative activities linked to keeping these charts up to date. In several circumstances, critical patient data was misplaced. At any one moment, only one doctor could see the paper chart. All of these issues are solved by the EHR, which securely stores all information in a digital format that can be accessed from anywhere. The computer and EHR servers have been used to wipe illegibility and other types of lost or garbled data.

Monetary Savings

Almost every health-care institution is searching for ways to save money, and using an EHR is a wise choice. Staff can work faster and care for more patients in a single day, which saves time and money. In addition, hospitals no longer have to pay for storage or administrative workers to retrieve paper charts. Various payments for hospitals deploying EHRs were allowed as part of a 2009 government stimulus package related with the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act. Medicaid has implemented regulations requiring the use of EHRs in order to be reimbursed.

Differences EMRs And EHRs Are Two Types Of Electronic Medical Records

EHRs are commonly mistaken with the electronic medical record, which is a comparable record keeper (EMR). While EHRs and EMRs are similar in that they both offer digital records of important health-care data, they differ in a number of ways.

All Health Information Is Stored In Electronic Health Records (EHRs)

EHRs, as previously stated, store every last bit of health data from all providers and can track a patient from one institution to the next throughout his life. EMRs, on the other hand, are exclusive to a single health care facility and are frequently inaccessible to patients. If a patient moves across the nation or to a new healthcare organization, their EMR does not accompany them.

Other Significant Differences

Because the EMR is more akin to a digitalized form of a simple patient chart than the EHR, it is often utilized solely by health care physicians when making diagnosis and prescribing treatments. The electronic health record (EHR) provides a more comprehensive collection of data that travels with the patient to other experts.

Keep in mind that EHRs that satisfy specific criteria can be certified by the Certified EHR Technology (CEHRT) program and may be eligible for payment through various incentive programs. EMRs, on the other hand, are never certified and do not always satisfy particular requirements.

While EMRs are primarily utilized for diagnosis and treatments, EHRs contain a plethora of additional data that may assist physicians in making informed decisions for their patients. Evidence-based methods aid in the selection of appropriate therapies for patients throughout their lives. Patient education, which enables for more information about a health issue to be communicated with the patient, can also be offered via the EHR.

Conclusion

Electronic health records continue to have a big influence on health care.

Health-care organizations that use them see better patient outcomes, higher patient satisfaction, and lower costs. Clinicians may now give more relevant treatment based on historical health information without wasting a lot of time, thanks to the elimination of the annoyances of outdated paper charts. These technologies can help patients save money, energy, and their lives.