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How EHRs change the way doctors deliver care

An Electronic Health Record (EHR) is a collection of patients’ electronic health information, stored digitally, […]

An Electronic Health Record (EHR) is a collection of patients’ electronic health information, stored digitally, that can also be shared across different healthcare providers.

With advancements in digital technology transforming the world we live in, universal adoption of fully interoperable EHRs will transform healthcare delivery and provision throughout the nation.

EHRs can help providers in some areas to quickly find and notify patients who may be at risk for problems related to unsafe drugs or medical devices.

One significant systemic impact of EHRs is enabling the healthcare community to find unexpected increases in diseases within a geographic region, thereby resulting in health officials taking prior action to avoid large scale damage to populations.

In a highly evolved and interoperable EHR adoption environment, patterns of prescribing available through pharmacy records could go as far as to help detect bioterrorism attacks on food systems or water supplies.

Furthermore, EHR interoperability holds the key to revolutionize healthcare delivery and its provision, owing to the unprecedented advantages it gives to all stakeholders involved in any healthcare transaction. EHR interoperability will enable faster and more efficient care by providing healthcare providers critical and personalized information. With critical information available instantly in an emergency setting, providers would be in a position to make better, error-free decisions.

EHRs can also help expedite physician workflow, increase automation, and improve practice operations, causing swift and seamless completion of routine tasks. The result is more efficient patient care and higher revenues for providers. EHRs which are fully accessible through portable devices such as the iPad also help increase physician speed, resulting in increased productivity.

EHRs also provide complete financial management (billing, charges, payments, plan, collections, follow up and denials management). Patients’ health information entered through EHRs save a practice from data entry errors and serves as a remarkable tool to create seamless documents. In effect, there is a lesser chance of objections on reimbursement claims.

By increasing productivity, enhancing provider workflows and earning them higher revenues, EHRs have given the healthcare industry a completely new direction that will continue to evolve as time progresses


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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