ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORDS (EHR) & its advantages

An Electronic Health Record (EHR) is an electronic version of a patients medical history, that is maintained by the provider over time, and may include all of the key administrative clinical data relevant to that persons care under a particular provider, including demographics, progress notes, problems, medications, vital signs, past medical history, immunizations, laboratory data and radiology reports The EHR automates access to information and has the potential to streamline the clinician’s workflow. The EHR also has the ability to support other care-related activities directly or indirectly through various interfaces, including evidence-based decision support, quality management, and outcomes reporting.

EHRs are the next step in the continued progress of healthcare that can strengthen the relationship between patients and clinicians. The data, and the timeliness and availability of it, will enable providers to make better decisions and provide better care.

Advantages of EHR

EHRs can reduce the incidence of medical error by improving the accuracy and clarity of medical records.

EHRs can make a patient’s health information available when and where it is needed – it is not locked away in one office or another.

EHRs can bring a patient’s total health information together in one place, and always be current – clinicians need not worry about not knowing the drugs or treatments prescribed by another provider, so care is better coordinated.

EHRs can support better follow-up information for patients – for example, after a clinical visit or hospital stay, instructions and information for the patient can be effortlessly provided; and reminders for other follow-up care can be sent easily or even automatically to the patient.

EHRs can improve patient and provider convenience – patients can have their prescriptions ordered and ready even before they leave the provider’s office, and insurance claims can be filed immediately from the provider’s office.

EHRs can link information with patient computers to point to additional resources – patients can be more informed and involved as EHRs are used to help identify additional web resources.

EHRs don’t just “contain” or transmit information, they also compute with it – for example, a qualified EHR will not merely contain a record of a patient’s medications or allergies, it will also automatically check for problems whenever a new medication is prescribed and alert the clinician to potential conflicts.

EHRs can improve safety through their capacity to bring all of a patient’s information together and automatically identify potential safety issues — providing “decision support” capability to assist clinicians.

EHRs can deliver more information in more directions, while reducing “paperwork” time for providers –for example, EHRs can be programmed for easy or automatic delivery of information that needs to be shared with public health agencies or quality measurement, saving clinician time.

EHRs can improve privacy and security – with proper training and effective policies, electronic records can be more secure than paper.

EHRs can reduce costs through reduced paperwork, improved safety, reduced duplication of testing, and most of all improved health through the delivery of more effective health care.

Also refer EHRs Meaningful use and its stages