Electronic health records have transformed modern medicine, giving doctors and nurses better data to guide care. They have supported enhanced patient safety through new automated tools. Thus, creating more efficient processes by connecting different health systems.
However, the design, and use of electronic health records (EHRs) by doctors, nurses, and clinicians can also lead to inefficiencies. For example, an unclear medication list could result in a clinician ordering the wrong drug for a patient. In these modern days, where technology has taken over and now it’s changing everything around you. Many healthcare facilities are now using EHR charting to make their patient records more efficient than traditional medical records.
Electronic healthcare records (EHR) have been widely adopted among most healthcare clinics. But that doesn’t mean that everyone is using them efficiently. Training, workflow management, and customizable templates are all steps you can take to make the most out of your EHR. Putting a little planning into your charting procedures can save your staff time and reduce stress while improving patient care. Therefore, to protect patient data many electronic health record software vendors are trying to provide EMRs to many healthcare facilities.
By now, leadership in your medical organization is starting to conclude that there are more problems than benefits in continuing to use paper-based records and it is time to make the switch to electronic health records. While some practices can manage to get by using old-fashioned paper, the drawbacks can no longer be ignored. Paper records are simply too insecure and it is becoming increasingly difficult to justify using this outdated method of maintaining patient files. HL7 integration is very essential in providing this EMRs
Benefits of EHR Charting
To help you make the case to your team for going forward with an EHR, here are five reasons why electronic health records are more secure than paper records.
Grant Access Only to Authorized Users
A paper-based system for your patients’ medical records makes it easier for an unauthorized person to access them. During the course of a busy day, an employee might leave a patient’s file out instead of putting it back in the filing cabinet, for example. Or someone misfiles the information, which is even worse for the patients in question.
If you’ve ever been photocopying important documents and then became distracted by a phone call or other diversion of your attention, you know how easy it is to leave a document behind for someone else to view.
Encryption Keeps Information Secure
A paper record is easily exposed, letting anyone see it, transcribe details, make a copy or even scan or fax the information to a third party. In contrast, electronic records can be protected with HL7 Integrations to keep crucial patient information secure from prying eyes.
Your organization already must do everything possible to comply with HIPAA and other privacy regulations, and electronic health records make it easier to maintain confidentiality over paper records in this respect.
Paper Records Subject to Tampering
Paper records can be altered in a manner that can be difficult to detect. Someone can remove papers from a report, for example, or produce an altered copy to substitute for the real information. Electronic health records are protected by encryption and strong login and password systems that make it much more difficult for someone to make unauthorized adjustments to the patient’s chart and other information. Using an EHR clearly helps you maintain pristine records.
Data Backup after Disasters
Keeping your patients’ records secure involves much more than controlling access to confidential information. You also need to make sure that medical data is availabe for access.For example, in the event of criminal trespass or vandalism or natural disasters such as a fire, flood or earthquake, you will be able to restore your confidential patient data from an offsite backup and get back up and running much more quickly than if your organization was relying on a paper-based system. Electronic health record software vendors are making medical facilities efficient.
More Effective Communication.
EHR charting help improve interaction and communication between a patient and a healthcare provider. Which results in increased patient participation in their care and enhanced health care convenience. As both a patient and a doctor have access to electronic health information. Therefore, it is easier for them to connect and understand each other. It is especially important to be able to communicate quickly and efficiently when it comes to managing chronic conditions or providing follow-up information after an appointment or hospital stay. Besides, practitioners’ communication with other clinicians and labs can also be enhanced through the use of an EHR system.
