So you know about Electronic Medical Records (EMR),
but are wondering what qualities to look for in a good one? We heard you. Here
is a list of ten qualities to help you gauge an EMR.
1. Ease
of data capture: The primary work of an EMR is to capture a patient’s medical
records in an electronic format. So the foremost quality to check for is to see
how easy it is to capture patient health data.
2. Access
to past data: An EMR is designed to help a practitioner at a specific practice
access a patient’s entire medical records to help the practitioner arrive at a
diagnosis. If the access to past records is cumbersome or takes a long time to
view, then the EMR is not serving its purpose!
3. Data
Security: A patient’s data must be captured and saved for the future by any
EMR. Hence increased security of data becomes an important factor to judge an
EMR’s worth.
4. Simplified
use: While an EMR software does the tedious job of recording all the medical data of a
patient, it should be simple to use. Otherwise, a medical practioner will be
losing precious time which can be used to cure a patient.
5. Accurate
Documentation: A pateint’s medical documents have to be accurate in order to
aid at speedy prognosis. A good EMR facilitates accurate documentation.
6. Good
quality Images: Health records also contain images such as scans and x-rays. A
top-notch EMR will enable effective capture of such images and present the
doctor with high resolution images.
7. Meets
all the legal and medical compliances: EMRs are bound by legal laws and have to
adhere to medical mandates. A good EMR will adhere to all the requisite laws.
8. Integrated
Prescription: An EMR which helps in generating a prescription is better than
just a stand-alone EMR as it helps in a lot of time savings.
9. Integrated
Billing: When an EMR is more comprehensive and also facilitates billing, it
improves the overall efficiency of the practice.
10. Flexible
and Robust: A good EMR system has be flexible enough to incorporate the fields
needed by different medical records and robust enough to handle copious
volumes.
These
ten qualities can help in identifying the best EMR suitable for your needs.
