Electronic Health Record
Prior to the 1960s, all medical records were kept on paper and in manual filing systems. Diagnoses, lab reports, visit notes, and medication directions were all written and maintained using sheets of paper bound together in a patient’s medical record. Those records were labeled using the patient’s last name, last few numbers of the patient’s social security number, or some other chart numbering system. The records were then filed and retrieved from specially made shelves designed to hold vertical file folders.
As we often have to visit clinics and hospitals while we are sick. Moreover we visit while our loved once are admitted. So we are all aware about the initial written procedure for the patient. It is a headache to do that paperwork for hospital staff as well as for patients relatives, too. And it is also very complicated to preserve that patient history for hospitals and clinics. In the mid-1960s, Lockheed developed an electronic system known then as a clinical information system. The rest, as they say, is history.
What is EHR?
An electronic health record (EHR) is a digital version of a patient’s paper chart. EHRs are real-time, patient-centered records that make information available instantly and securely to authorized users. While an EHR does contain the medical and treatment histories of patients, an EHR system is built to go beyond standard clinical data collected in a provider’s office and can be inclusive of a broader view of a patient’s care. EHRs can:
- Contain a patient’s medical history, diagnoses, medications, treatment plans, immunization dates, allergies, radiology images, and laboratory and test results
- Allow access to evidence-based tools that providers can use to make decisions about a patient’s care
- Automate and streamline provider workflow
One of the key features of an EHR is that health information can be created and managed by authorized providers in a digital format capable of being shared with other providers across more than one health care organization. EHRs are built to share information with other health care providers and organizations — such as laboratories, specialists, medical imaging facilities, pharmacies, emergency facilities, and school and workplace clinics — so they contain information from all clinicians involved in a patient’s care.
Difference between EHR and EMR
Some people use the terms “electronic medical record” and “electronic health record” (or “EMR” and “EHR”) interchangeably.
the difference between the two terms is actually quite significant.The EMR term came along first, and indeed, early EMRs were “medical”. They were for use by clinicians mostly for diagnosis and treatment.
In contrast, “health” relates to “The condition of being sound in body, mind, or spirit; especially freedom from physical disease or pain…the general condition of the body.” The word “health” covers a lot more territory than the word “medical.” And EHRs go a lot further than EMRs.
What’s the Difference?
Electronic medical records (EMRs) are a digital version of the paper charts in the clinician’s office. An EMR contains the medical and treatment history of the patients in one practice. EMRs have advantages over paper records. For example, EMRs allow clinicians to:
- Track data over time
- Easily identify which patients are due for preventive screenings or checkups
- Check how their patients are doing on certain parameters — such as blood pressure readings or vaccinations
- Monitor and improve overall quality of care within the practice
But the information in EMRs doesn’t travel easily out of the practice. In fact, the patient’s record might even have to be printed out and delivered by mail to specialists and other members of the care team. In that regard, EMRs are not much better than a paper record.
Electronic health records (EHRs) do all those things and more. EHRs focus on the total health of the patient — going beyond standard clinical data collected in the provider’s office and inclusive of a broader view on a patient’s care. EHRs are designed to reach out beyond the health organization that originally collects and compiles the information. They are built to share information with other health care providers, such as laboratories and specialists, so they contain information from all the clinicians involved in the patient’s care. The National Alliance for Health Information Technology stated that EHR data “can be created, managed, and consulted by authorized clinicians and staff across more than one healthcare organization.”
Why we use EHR?
There are several benefits of EHR systems for providers and patients. EHRs offer faster access to patient records and a more complete and accurate picture of patient care. EHRs can also reduce the costs associated with paperwork and improve efficiency. They can also enable safer prescribing and reduce medical errors.
Advantages of EHR
EHRs and the ability to exchange health information electronically can help you provide higher quality and safer care for patients while creating tangible enhancements for your organization. EHRs help providers better manage care for patients and provide better health care by:
- Providing accurate, up-to-date, and complete information about patients at the point of care
- Enabling quick access to patient records for more coordinated, efficient care
- Securely sharing electronic information with patients and other clinicians
- Helping providers more effectively diagnose patients, reduce medical errors, and provide safer care
- Improving patient and provider interaction and communication, as well as health care convenience
- Enabling safer, more reliable prescribing
- Helping promote legible, complete documentation and accurate, streamlined coding and billing
- Enhancing privacy and security of patient data
Hope you like it and if you need to create EHR system for your hospital or clinic then contact Fuzzy Cloud or you can drop a mail to me on kunjan.dalal@fuzzycloud.in
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