What the electronic medical record filing system is doing for the hospitals is the same as what the CD industry did for the encyclopedia. It is taking something fragile as paper and storing it in a more durable and accessible format.
There are a lot of people against electronic medical record filing because of the risks involved with something corruptible as computer data. Others argue that a hard copy is still better than a soft copy that can fail on your for some reason like a computer virus. But electronic medical record filing has had its supporters.
The benefits of electronic medical record filing system in your hospital are many. One is the ease of retrieval. A doctor can easily access the hospital's server from the intranet and get the patient's record in minutes.
Another one of the benefits of electronic medical record filing is the security of the record. No more lost or switched charts. Doctors can now give the right diagnosis and treatment for the right patient.
Healthcare institutions are also positively affected by the benefits of electronic medical record filing system. Forms can now be standardized and be referred to again and again with much more speed than a staff looking through piles of folders.
The hospital administration can fully appreciate the benefits of electronic medical record filing as the reduction of paperwork appears; documentation errors are lessened and filing activities kept to a minimal. Work hours are now dedicated more to serving the patients.
The benefits of electronic medical record filing also include the ability to be alerted for medication errors, the patient's drug interactions, history and allergies. Such information could mean the life or death of a patient.
Apart from these the benefits of electronic medical record filing also take on doctor's responsibility. Because of the possibility of malpractice, this electronic medical record system can point out who the attending physician is and what the treatment was for use of investigations. This is more reliable since forgery is less likely to happen especially with the security measures of the system, just another one of the benefits of electronic medical record filing.
In the field of medical research, the benefits of electronic medical record filing are also felt. Researches made on one medical case can be instantly shared with a fellow doctor or professor in an outside university. As another one of the benefits of electronic medical record filing, the information gathered over the years is protected and less prone to being lost in the transmission from one computer terminal to another.
And lastly, the benefits of electronic medical record filing are the efficiency that this system brings into the administrative and business side of the hospital. It is seen and felt as one of the benefits of electronic medical record filing. Transactions charged to the patients can be seen and verified by the doctors and staff. Computation of the hospital bills is much easier and is infused with a more personal touch.
Although the traditional filing of medical records is still being used today, more and more hospitals,, clinic, and healthcare providers are switching to electronic medical record keeping. The benefits of electronic medical record filing are just too many to ignore that sometimes the concerns about the system seem petty and childish. And yet the risk of data manipulation and no standard electronic medical record system in use is a real threat.
One consolation, though, with technology evolving everyday, sooner or later those negative concerns will one day obsolete as the stone tablets history was carved upon.