MEDICAL RECORDS

Medical records

Medical records

Can health care really be transformed by the use of electronic medical record (EMR) software? Being able to bring patient records into the twenty-first century is vital for improving care, containing costs, and reducing errors in the American health care system. In a survey done by the Department of Health and Human Services, eighty-two percent of the offices using the electronic medical record showed an improvement in the quality of clinical decisions; eighty-six percent saw fewer medication errors; and eighty-five percent had an improvement in preventative care (New York Times, 2008). Dr. Peter Masucci, a pediatrician in Everett, Mass with his own office who uses EMR software, stated, “Do I see more patients because of this technology? Probably no, but I am doing a better job with the patients I am seeing. It almost forces you to be a better doctor”. Dr. Masucci is just one of over 2,000 doctors all over the country that are using EMRs (Lohr, 2008).

In an effort to maximize St. Bernard's competitiveness, we have conducted detailed research in regards to upgrading technology. Specifically, we have focused on the implementation of Electronic Health Records, as well advantages, disadvantages, and costs. Additionally, we performed a detailed analysis of two possible programs that would benefit St. Bernard's. The results of this review are presented below.

Background

To more broadly examine the financial and health benefits of using electronic records we must look at the costs, benefits and the future of the systems. The future savings of the adoption of EMR could be more than $81 billion annually; this includes improving health care and safety to the patients (Hillestad, et al., 2005).

The most inefficient information enterprise in the world is the U.S. health care industry. The OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) estimates that over $1.7 trillion per year is spent on health care (Hillestad, et al., 2005). With this, most medical records are still being stored on paper in files and warehouses where time, insects, and disasters can destroy them.

Electronic Health Record (EHR)

EHR is an intranet system, which is utilized by one hospital or healthcare system to enhance medical records and data collection, storage, communication, retrieval and analysis via computerized information technology. EHRs, which have numerous advantages, were designed to improve medical safety, quality, clinical procedures, compliance with government regulations, and operational efficiency.

EHRs also reduce lost information, illegibility and time spent searching for information; provides immediate decision support and guidelines to healthcare professionals; and reduce variety in clinical procedures (Longest & Darr, 2005). EHRs commenced at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota in the mid-1990s, and by 2007 connected 16,000 users, 360 million nurse medical documents, 200 million laboratory results, 4 million radiology reports and 19.2 million clinical notations (Longest & Darr, 2005).

However, there are critics of EHRs that argue the disadvantages of the IT systems for medical facilities. One disadvantage is that EHRs reduces opportunities for physicians, laboratory, pharmacy, radiology and other hospital personnel to personally interact with ...