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EMR – Addressing the Misconceptions

Like any other technological advancements in health IT, Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) have groups of […]

Like any other technological advancements in health IT, Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) have groups of proponents and opponents. Considering the advantages that EMRs have brought to healthcare, from providers to health IT consultants, the supporters have all the reasons to promote the use of EMRs. However, certain misconceptions amongst some of the physicians have provided physicians with reasons to avert the technology.

Let’s divulge into the misconceptions and see where some of the physicians go wrong. Recently, in a friendly discussion with a provider I found out that some physicians still consider EMRs to be an expensive investment. Perhaps this is because they are not aware of the affordable cloud EMRs that are available in the market today. Physicians now don’t have to spend thousands of dollars for implementing these solutions. The established EMR vendors provide physicians with an option to implement cloud EMR at an affordable monthly subscription rate.

“Spending a bag full of dollars is no longer a necessity to implement EMRs; physicians can choose vendors that offer reasonable rates for cloud EMR implementation. In fact, some of the established vendors also provide all-in-one solutions, this also eliminates the additional cost of implementing practice management and patient portal”, says a California based health IT consultant.

Another misconception is the belief that EMRs require extensive IT knowledge. With cloud EMRs in operation, providers do not have to worry about maintenance and upgrades. The system is designed in a manner to automatically fix such issues. Some physicians also believe that EMRs are prone to security breaches. However, to answer that, the concept of role based access and data encryption technique within cloud EMRs have completely eliminated the chances of security breaches. Hence, it could be established that EMRs compliant with the aforementioned features are not susceptible to security invasion.

Since patients form an integral part of the healthcare loop, patient alienation has always been a concern for physicians. Some physicians believe that EMRs depersonalize patient visits. They believe physicians are busy in using the application rather than engaging the patients. However, cloud EMR provide physicians with the latest point and click technology. This allows physicians to document patient encounters in mere seconds and that too with precision.

It is practically impossible to clear all the misconceptions in a single attempt. Of course, it would take time for some physicians to comprehend that how over time technology has evolved to provide users with affordable, error proof, and intuitive tools to simplify tasks.

Read more: 9 Steps to Successful EHR Implementation


Frank Quinn

The writer is a leading Health IT analyst contributing regularly on some of the most pressing topics like Electronic Health Records, Practice Management, eRx, Patient Portal, Billing Services, Compliance and Privacy and Security.

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