Electronic Health Record (EHR)
The term EHR (electronic health record) has always been used interchangeably with EMR (electronic medical record). What is an EHR? It refers to a patient care medical record that is recorded in digital format. These computerized systems actually coordinate the storage and retrieval of individual records.
Networking allows us to access EHRs from any global location. Thus, from one location one can have access to a variety of medical information. There are many types of medical information in an EHR.
Here are the important ones,
Health “power of attorney”
Laboratory test results
Radiology images
Demographic details of the patient
Billing records
Record of side-effects of medicine
Medical history
Appointment records
List of allergies
Medication
Immunization status
Recommendation for medical conditions
Endoscopy / laparoscopy
Living will details
Among the advantages of implementing an EHR is the fact that it leads to minimal medical errors. Moreover a handwritten medical record is rarely legible. When compared to the paper based records EHRs are so very convenient because they take up almost no space and can be accessed from distant locations also. Digitization of medical records also facilitates the collection of data for research and clinical studies.
It is indeed a great challenge to implement an HER system because all the old records which are now in different formats will have to be digitized. Simply scanning old records is not sufficient but have to be brought into the electronic record system. Another challenge is synchronization of data that originate from two different locations. Other issues relate to privacy and other legal barriers.
About the Author: The author of this article is Ricci Mathew of Outsource Strategies International (OSI), a US based company that offers services in Medical Coding, Medical Billing, Medical Transcription for clients across the US.
More articles by Riccimathew
Print Article | Download PDF | 14 views | May 24 2008
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