Electronic Medical Records EMR\'s Electronic Medical Records

Electronic Medical Records

EMR's

Electronic Medical Records

According to research literature it has been proven that technological innovation in regards to electronic patient records has improved communication the safety of patients. This has all been done without having to increase medical costs. EMR's assist in reducing preventable errors, controlling medical care costs, and improving communication amongst the health care facilities and providers. Any technological innovation is geared towards solving a specific need that is affecting a health care provider or the patients. Using technology allows a health care facility to improve on its quality of care to the patients. Technology has also ensured that patient information is readily available to the necessary people. Using EMR's a patient does not have to worry about their records not been available when they visit a health care facility. EMR's allow health care providers to have access to all the patient records including the patient's medical history. The EMR will store all the patient's medical and administrative information, which makes it easily accessible to health care providers when the patient visits the health care facility. Using the EMR all the relevant patient information would be organized and presented to the clinician to assist in decision making.

Research has shown that technological innovation especially in EMR's has eliminated the loss of medical records Giaedi, 2008.

Since EMR's record, all the patient visits and clinical information, a patient would not have to undertake repeat lab tests or be admitted due to lack of a medical record. This reduces the medical costs to the patient and also improves on the care given to the patient. Access to a patient's medical information is improved as the information is shared by the different health care facilities. This ensures that a patient can visit any medical facility and their medical history would be accessed by the facility. Costs of travel are reduced as the patient is guaranteed that they can visit any health care facility closest to them and not necessarily the facility they visit.

There is an improved quality of care as the patient's records are easily accessible by the authorized care givers. This ensures that the care givers can monitor and make accurate decisions. Having access to the patient's history would also assist the clinicians in reviewing the patient medical history. This would assist in determining the accurate decision based on the information presented. Technological innovations assist in keeping track of the patient records and medical history. This way if a patient has any allergies they can be easily identified based on their previous medical history. The clinician would easily determine what ails a patient based on their past medical history, and this would improve the quality of care. There is also an increment in the speed of care given to a patient. Since all the medical information is presented to the clinician in one location, the clinician will not have to perform unnecessary tests. This will speed up treatment and reduce the costs to the patient.