Electronic Health Records: Benefits of Digitisation in Healthcare
Doctors have one of the most crucial jobs around the world. That’s not an exaggeration by any extent. To help patients with various health problems and keeping them well, doctors need to do a lot more than just check ups and prescribing medicines.
Given the number of patients every doctor is catering to, a lot of data and records must be maintained by them. Now, managing all these records on top of an already challenging job can lead to problems. With the legacy systems of paper-based records, a lot of time is wasted and confusion can creep in as a result. To combat this, a practical solution has been a long time coming.
Enter Electronic Health Records (EHR)!
EHR is a digital equivalent of the document-based prescriptions or test reports, used in hospitals and clinics. The EHR provides the personal records of all people who use the practice which is part of the internal patient record-keeping process.
The EHR provides instant access to the records of each particular patient, helping the clinic to monitor patient history and classify patients related to appointments, examinations, or screenings. EHR leads to better patient care, increased quality of practice, and better operation of the hospital. EHRs are not just a supplement for the paperwork. They encourage collaboration and cooperation between health team members for the best possible treatment of patients.
EHR functions by enabling healthcare practitioners to document patient records online, such as profiles, personal history, symptoms, prescription, reports from the laboratory, and more. This data is then open in the hospital to other doctors from other units. Basically, the automated handling of confidential records instead of physical storage areas makes it easy to view critical medical information while improving the quality of the data involved.
Successful implementation of EHR systems in various clinics and hospitals across Europe and North America has shown a direct positive impact on the quality of medical care being provided. Physicians who tried a pilot have gone on to add and suggest new features to the software, activating a feedback loop that adds value to the whole ecosystem. As of early 2020, 4 out of 5 physicians have already implemented EHR systems in their clinics.
Applications of EHR
EHR has a long list of applications in the modern healthcare scenario. One of the biggest EHR applications has to be the management of patient records in hospitals. As an integrated component of hospital management systems, EHR can really streamline everyday operations in a clinic.
Apart from this, the management of medical supplies and inventories can be streamlined too. Physicians can access the data from EHR on each patient and easily navigate various possibilities. From potential allergies to test results from the past, physicians have access to each and every facet of the patient’s medical data.
Benefits of EHR
- Cost benefits in the long run
Compared with a paper-based system of record keeping, the overall cost of an EHR system would be significantly small. There is less space for mistakes as documents are kept electronically. Security is also improved, adding to confidentiality and protection for patients. Only authorised professionals such as the concerned physician or a lab testing personnel has the access to patient data, ensuring water-tight security of patient data.
- Accurate medical data
Details stored in an electronic format is not vulnerable to human error and can be quickly accessed by just clicking a button. By using an industry-leading EHR platform, you can integrate various components of healthcare such as appointment booking, consultations, billing, testing labs, and pharmacy into a one-stop interface.
- Structured medical information
All the information is processed in a manner such that retrieval of data on several parameters and filters becomes easy. In addition to this, doctors can also use the system to prescribe medicines from pharmacies that are part of the network for their patients. This helps patients immediately to get refills without having to go to the physician or the pharmacist. EHR systems also encourage doctors to order medical tests and display the reports electronically.
- Availability of data anytime, anywhere
Access your data at any time from anywhere: Using mobile devices like the iPhone and similar apps, physicians and other medical professionals can view medical records from anywhere. This enables them to continue therapy no matter where they are and also to pass on data so that as appropriate, other doctors can also provide emergency treatment.
- Better patient care
It is essentially the highest priority to provide the right treatment for patients. Doctors and other healthcare service providers are well equipped through direct access to the detailed medical history of a patient through the use of EHRs. Doctors are best equipped to provide detailed diagnosis, prescribe appropriate care, and follow-up if required, with up-to-date patient records on past medical issues and accidents, laboratory and examination reports, and current health conditions.
- Reduction in unnecessary testing
EHR solutions help reduce repeated testing and therefore save a lot of money for both patients and hospitals. They can be communicated to either hospital or medical practitioner by email in a moment, thereby eliminating the need for examinations that have already been carried out.
- Management of Results
Test results, prescriptions, and all other medical documents are recorded in Electronic Health Records, and the health records of patients are kept updated regularly. This offers an environment, where the patient can be confident of their sensitive details. At any time, patients can access these results, removing the need for travel to capture the outcomes and safeguarding paper stacks of reports.
- Environmentally Friendly
With digitized data, there’s no need to print it for distribution, also handling digitized data is easy. An e-mail is all you need to exchange your details so that needless copying is avoided. This will potentially conserve natural capital and make the business greener.
EHR applications have a wide variety of user interfaces and features, being the center of all clinical activity in the office. The EHR system is used on a regular basis to manage payment and insurance requests, schedule patients, exchange information inside the clinic with other employees, add new patients, as well as monitor and document patient records.
Get started with Halemind EHR
Implementation of EHR must be tailored for each clinic depending on clinic needs, specifications for customization, and availability of clinic staff. With HaleMind, you can streamline patient engagement and save valuable time for your staff. Manage every aspect of your hospital from a single dashboard, taking care of everything from connected records and digital prescriptions to health records and simplified appointment schedules.
There are also financial benefits to EHRs outside better programs and standard of treatment for patients. Owing to the overall quality of workflow, the running costs and overtime labor expenditures of a clinic are minimized. Not only this, our intuitive dashboards make it easy for healthcare professionals to visualize data without any hassle, making it easy to take informed decisions and unlock hidden revenue for the organization. Additionally, the ability to process patient billing more accurately and reliably increases the bottom line of the facility.
Any limitations of electronic health records are not actually in the technology itself, but in the technology’s initial (and natural) planning, readiness, and training difficulties. With the countless advantages, implementing EHR is not an option anymore — it’s a necessity. Start using EHR and overcome bottlenecks that you’ve always wished to get rid of.
Need help with EHRs? Feel free to get in touch with HaleMind and we’ll help you unlock efficiency!
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