The use of electronic health records has been on the rise for the past decade. This is as more medical practices, regardless of the specialty and size, shift to this innovative approach to keep caregivers’ and patients’ records.
In an era where nearly everything revolves around digital information, the idea of electronic health records has proven to offer limitless benefits, including convenience and easy data access. Read on for more advantages of Electronic Health Records as discussed below.
1. Less Paperwork and Fewer Storage Issues
Thanks to technological advancement, healthcare practitioners no longer have to deal with tons of paperwork for patients’ records. Besides enhancing safety and efficiency, this helps to save both time and space.
Patients do not like the idea of replicating the same data across various forms. They find it tedious and time-consuming. Investing in electronic health records helps to streamline the entry of various data in different places hence convenience. Moreover, you no longer have to worry about storage as you will not have to deal with piles of files on your desk. Everything can be accessed from your computer.
2. Increased Quality Care
Electronic Health Record enhances better patient care. For starters, it promotes more straightforward access to patients’ records, hence improved efficiency. It also fosters effectiveness and operational efficiency.
Patients will love it when you assure them of their data safety while saving them the time they would have spent waiting for data processing. The best part is that you can customize your EHR by integrating medical solutions apps for convenience, flexibility, and better usage.
With electronic health records, all the patients’ information such as test results, allergy records, medical history, and diagnosis are readily available when physicians need them. It only takes the experts a few clicks to get a complete overview of the patients’ medical condition.
3. Financial Incentive
Even with the decades of digital transformation, shifting from analog to electronic health records has been a bit cumbersome. It has been both time and money consuming, considering that health providers must invest in staff training before shifting the entire records system to the new one.
Fortunately, providers have been getting generous health incentives to motivate mote health practitioners to shift to the new system. They are receiving financial incentives through various state-run and federal programs for more manageable investment.
Even better, the federal government has set aside billions for incentives and more for training to train healthcare IT workers and help medical experts in the shifting process.
When combined with other medical technologies, electronic health records minimize operational costs while ensuring cost-effectiveness. Moreover, the approach optimizes the clinical workflow.
Electronic Health Records promote cost-effectiveness in a range of ways. For starters, computerized entry of inpatient data promotes coordination of patient care and minimizes the cost of patient management. Improved communication efficiency and process optimization impact the records system positively.
What’s more? Keeping health records can be time-consuming and requires extensive expertise. That means that you must be willing to invest in staff training to meet the recording standards. The training programs take a lot of time, which would have been used on other productive things around the facility.
Implementing electronic health records eliminates extra costs such that you do not have to spend on training, and you will no longer spend hours filling in patients’ records. It is a perfect example of optimized care delivery processes. Electronic health records are much easier to store and provide you with fast access to the files. This is unlike the past years, where clinical staff spent a lot of time processing health records papers and forms.
From all the mentioned improvements, it is evident that electronic health record minimizes the costs connected to part records printing and staff training, which is a significant financial incentive.
4. Increased Efficiency and Productivity
The records systems are designed to send reminders to patients about their scheduled visits to the doctors when to undergo screening and the prevention measures to improve health. This makes work easier, both for the patients and care providers. The health experts will have an easier time dealing with patients since they already know what is expected from them. Such features were inaccessible with paper records, which were limited to health care facilities.
The best part is that electronic health records are accessible from anywhere. This means that the physicians can access the records regardless of their location at different times, hence maximum efficiency and flexibility. It is now possible to connect with laboratories, pharmacies, insurers, and other healthcare facilities. The increase in connectivity has minimized the chances of duplicate claims and made the insurance claim processes much more straightforward.
Electronic health records reduce clinical and medical errors. In return, this translates to minimal time wastage and maximum productivity.
The physicians do not have to spend hours doing tedious work and correcting errors. The electronic systems are automated, and unlike humans, they are minimal chances of making errors. For instance, if a physician prescribes the wrong drug, the system will alert them immediately to make the necessary changes. Besides, there are low chances of misplacing patients’ files. If that happens, there are reliable backups to help the staff trace the records with ease.
The availability of patients’ records online promotes convenience when sharing information across the globe and boosts efficiency and productivity.
5. Better Patient Care
On average, patients go through different practitioners before getting the final diagnosis and treatment. The patients will go through their primary caregiver, specialist, lab technician, and nurses, and in each stage, the information they get is critical to their treatment journey.
A minor error could result in irreversible mistakes. But that does not have to be the case with the hell of Electronic health records. The system ensures that all caregivers have access to similar data, which promotes accuracy and helps them avoid duplicate tests or prescribe the wrong medications. Overall, innovation improves the quality of patient care.
Also, having a central data storage system that can be accessed from anywhere ensures quality treatment delivery. Whether the treatment is offered in the doctor’s office or the ER, the doctor will access the same information regarding the patient’s medical history.
The data recorded in the EHR can also be used to determine the patients’ care trends, which is a crucial component in quality patient care.
Conclusion
Electronic health records are undoubtedly way better than traditional paper-based record systems. The innovation has brought an era of medical automation and improved healthcare efficiency. The goal is to offer fast and quality patient care, precisely what medical providers achieve by incorporating this technology in their facilities.