The Purpose of Electronic Medical Record Software

The innovative medical information technology that serves multi-faceted purposes in the healthcare industry, Electronic Medical Records Software is the medical records management system that contains all necessary patient information and is available in the provider’s office

Significance of Electronic Medical Records (EMR)

EMR Software is designed in such a way that the system not only stores and manages the crucial patient medical data but also allows various medical practices and departments to share the information effectively. The critical information in EMR Software can be created and managed by those privy to it. Used mainly by the provider, EMRs are very useful in diagnoses and treatment.

EMR Software helps practices to track information over time, identify relevant patients for screening and tests, and help improve overall efficiency of the practice and increase care quality.

Features & Functions of EMR Software

Electronic Medical Records Software can be custom-designed suiting to the specific needs of medical facilities and specialists. The number of functions and features required to be provided in this system may be decided according to the practice needs. Mostly being maintained on the cloud, this digital technology helps physicians and facilities to practice medicine in much better and efficient way. A few major functions of EMR Software are listed below:

• Patient Demographics
• Identification and maintaining patients’ medical records
• Problem list management
• Medication and patient history management
• Clinical and progress notes
• Past treatment, present care plans, and protocols
• Recording patient-specific prompts and instructions

How EMR Software Serves Health Care Industry

Going beyond just maintaining standard clinical data, EMR Software includes broader view of patient’s health care. Offering instant and easy access to medical records of individuals, they ensure that critical medical data is available online at real time. Patient-centered medical records are securely accessed by authorized users only, with selective access also possible.

EMR Software- Key Purposes and Capabilities

The major essential purposes of EMR Software are given below:

• Capturing data at the care point
• Integration of data varied and multiple sources that may be internal or external
• To assist care provider with informed decision making

The aim of developing the EMR Software being better health care, higher efficiency and quality, and improved patient safety, there are certain essential capabilities:

• Accurate Medical Information: It should provide easy and instant access to key patient information such as allergies, test results, medications, and so on, that support physicians
• Decision Support: EMR must be capable of offering information-based decision assistance to providers through reminders, prompts, alerts, and identifying drug reactions
• Patient Assistance: Providing interactive education to patients, enabling them to take an active part in their health care management, and allowing self-monitoring and self-testing must be possible
• Standard Reporting: Reporting must be made over a uniform standard that facilitates different facilities to access crucial data properly- thus increasing patient safety and response time

Digital version of the erstwhile paper-based charts, EMRs contain all vital patient details in one place that may be effectively shared among various providers, thus increasing care quality and improving practice efficiency.

Why Electronic Medical Records Charting Is a More Efficient Process than Paper Charting

Quite a few differences are seen between the traditional paper-based medical records and the modern Electronic Medical Records(EMRs) – EMRs carry numerous benefits with respect to physician’s time and practice finances; they offer several health advantages to patients and bring about positive impacts to the environment as well.

How EMRs Help Physicians

An average primary care physician can afford to spend only around 30 to 40 hours a week in direct patient interaction. This is due to the huge volume of administrative and documenting responsibilities they are entailed with. With each patient meeting resulting in about 10 to 12 pieces of paperwork, there is little wonder doctors get distracted and end up losing time that can be spent directly on patient care. This is a major cause for concern. Electronic Medical Records Software, by its virtue of removing redundancy and eliminating duplication in health records processing, provides accurate and fast data transmission. It also brings down administrative burden on medical practices of all sizes.

The Exclusive EMR advantages Over Paper-based Medical Records

In addition to ease of use and physical differences, there are several exclusive benefits offered by EMR Software, making the transition from filing cabinet system to cloud-based system worth it. Following are a few of the advantages of adopting EMR Software:

Ø  Storage: Paper-based medical records require large storage space such as warehouses that brim with myriad documents and charts. These records not only occupy space but also prove less environment friendly. EMRs can be stored on servers, private and secure cloud, thus occupying meager space and allowing easy access to those who need them.

ØCosts: Apart from the initial setting up cost for designing and implementing EMR Software, the cost of managing health records in digital format in EMRs is considerably economical – whereas paper-based records need personnel for maintaining documents and retrieval of information, EMR Software ensures that digitally stored medical records may be easily retrieved, edited, and managed efficiently.

Ø  Security:  digital record storage systems are not as susceptible to security concerns as their paper-based counterparts – being maintained in electronic format, EMRs are saved from certain compromises such as break-in,  loss of reports caused by human error, damage due to natural disaster, and so on – storing data electronically proves better

Ø  Access: sharing paper-based records proves difficult- they need to be mailed, scanned, or hand-delivered, and have to be recovered – this proves to be time-consuming –on the other hand, EMR allow instant access to data, medical professionals can access critical medical information quickly and easily, and patients are offered the chance of getting treated promptly.

Ø  Accuracy and Readability: Unlike paper records that are difficult to understand and read, EMR software are provided in standardized terminology and typeface that make them legible, unambiguous, and clear

Health care facilities can improve their efficiency and reduce manpower needed for medical record management by adopting EMR Software. Overall patient care quality can also be greatly increased.