Anyone somehow related to national healthcare must be well aware of the adoption saga of Electronic Medical Records (EMRs). Owing to numerous incentives given by the federal government, and the multiple benefits of EMRs, a majority of institutions in the industry have either made the transition to EMR or are going through one.
Similar to other breakthrough innovations, there are both advantages and disadvantages related to EMRs and their adoption. Benefits come in the shape of ease, reduction in expenditure and minimization of physician errors. Costs or disadvantages on the other hand follow a shift from traditional ways of storing data which obviously can be sorted out once EMR implementation is complete. Given the high importance of healthcare, physicians will eventually have to move to electronic records to reap complete benefits of this innovation.
The benefits of EMRs are countless. They have been known to speed up the provider documentation process and reduce efforts needed to store relevant information. Needless to say, electronic documentation reduces the chances of human errors, especially when key information is required in an emergency. In addition, data is easily accessible by physicians and patients anywhere, at all times.
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With developments in health IT on the rise, EMR vendors are now integrating Practice Management Software into their EMR software. This in turn caters to more than one issue- providing a platform for electronically recording data, as well as incorporating practice operational management that streamlines clinical, administrative and financial operations.
These solutions, all at a single platform, are the future of our healthcare system. Once the industry makes a complete shift to modern EMR, our national healthcare provision will be changed drastically for the better; providing enhanced patient care and that too at significantly lower cost compared to traditional methods.
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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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