The human race is fastidiously moving towards the digital world. Consider the Indian banking system in the 1990’s. Banks and paperwork went hand-in-hand – loan forms, mortgage records, collateral forms, credit card applications, and the list goes on. Needless to say, writing, storing, saving and securing these papers took enormous effort. Around the dawn of the 21st century, technological enhancements came knocking. Circa 2017, and banks no longer employ the practice of filing countless papers from nine to five. Digital became the go-to word, computers, the go-to lifestyle.
In such a dynamic environment that is witnessing change every passing second, why wouldn’t labs and hospitals want to get a hold of these technological advancements? From your patient’s’ prescription slips to their medical records, how easy would things be if everything went digital?
Wondering how?
The answer is – Electronic Medical Records, or simply, EMR.
An EMR is everything that one would normally see on a patient’s medical history- such as their age, medical prescription, allergies, medication, lab reports, test reports and so on – in an electronic format rather than on paper. Electronic Medical Records ensure that doctors, clinical laboratories and patients keep track of their respective treatment and schedules. Furthermore, medical informatics organisations like HODO helps you keep an EMR updated through a comprehensive cloud-based management system. The benefits of cloud will ideally aid clinical labs in maintaining records of their patients over years to come.
Still not convinced, are you?
Following are a few benefits of EMR.
Data tracking over time
Since the vast array of patient’s’ personal medical data is saved digitally, medical practitioners can access this information even if the patient is not present with them. Medical practitioners can update medical records quickly in an organised and efficient way. In fact, EMR’s are particularly helpful if the patient in question is constantly on the move.
Continuity in Healthcare
EMR safekeeps all medical records of patients, thereby ensuring continuity in one’s healthcare. This eliminates the risk of loss of paper report and the added trouble in undertaking the test once more.
Reduced Costs
EMR provides a healthcare centre with various means of cost-cutting.
- Transcription costs are minimal
- Locating patient records takes less time
- Error prevention alerts account for reduced risk of medical errors and provide better access to patient’s data
- Educating patients on disease management results in quality care and enhanced patient health.
Management of Results
Electronic Medical Records store test reports, prescriptions and all other medical data and keep patient’s medical records updated. This provides a space where the patient can be assured about safety of their personal data. The patients can access these data at any point, thereby eliminating the need for traveling to collect the results, and safekeeping paper stacks of reports.
Gamut of Information
EMR’s retrieve information about one’s medical history through a highly designed searchable database. This means a patient’ medical record is never lost and could always be retrieved with ease, in the long run.
Technology of Prescriptions
If planting a tree was a big ask, how about saving one? With technology rightly in its place, the practice of printing a patient’s reports should be necessitated only under important circumstances. This reduces the degree of paperwork involved, and also clears up some office space.
Sharing is Caring
At the heart of wellness is kindness. Today, EMR management systems do not just collect information about your patient, but go well beyond such measures. Networking plays a great role in this sharing of medical information. Hospitals can now request clinical labs for tests, who then send reports back to the hospitals. The hospitals, in turn, share it with the patient. Such secure sharing of data not only promotes overall customer satisfaction but creates an ever-lasting rapport between this chain of communication.
How convinced are you?
With benefits that account for reliability, dependability, promptness, secure information gateway and timely reminders, about time things took a positive turn in this digital era.
The time is now.