Emr Then And Now

Over 2 decades ago the IOM (institute of medicine) began annoying the healthcare community to implement electronic medical records

. The IOM described the EMR as an effective, safe and easier tool which would make practices more efficient. The concept was clear, all patient medical records were to be stored on an EMR, and this would enable physicians all across the country to view any patient demographics, lab order/results and past procedures. The healthcare community loved the EMR concept, but deemed it too expensive. The idea of implementing electronic medical records at the time would require many Benjamin Franklins, and quite frankly, they were short of Bens.

Fast forward to 2012 and we now see that the EMR adoption rate has climbed. Obama, the government, hospitals, physician practices and the patients themselves, all want electronic medical records to be implemented. Reason being that EMRs makes care delivery looks easy. At first there were limited funds to play with, now the government is giving doctors money to implement EMRs. The introduction of meaningful use has seen the adoption rate multiply and doctors are keener to fulfill the requirements in order to receive government incentives. Seeing the government heavily invest in healthcare caught the eye of big name players like Microsoft etc and voila! Now there are more than 1800 electronic medical record vendors across the U.S.

The breakthroughs and technology advancements that the introduction of electronic medical records has brought time and again in the healthcare industry, is a feat in itself. Patient doctor connectivity, 3rd part device interfacing, billing advancements, clinical decision support systems, e-prescribing and the list goes on. There was a time when you would go to a doctor and have to wait for 2 hours to get your turn and finally when it was time, the front office staff would not be able to locate your medical record and even bill you for the time wasted. That would simply cause a patient more stress and in time result in a heart attack. Today, well lets just say, its a matter of minutes. The EMR scheduler would alert the front office about the patients visit before hand, the patient himself would get an automated text reminder, the physician would have instant access to the patients past visits and before you know it, quality care has been delivered.

The advantages that electronic medical records bring to any practice setting are a treat to watch. The paperless environment, trained staff, patient doctor collaboration, physician referrals, clinical knowledge base, redundant data entry, medical transcription and so much more. Electronic medical records have undoubtedly re-defined healthcare and with EHRs (electronic health records) knocking on the door, care delivery can only get better.

by: Frank Quinn

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