Saturday, October 13, 2012

A Little Information About Web Based EHR Systems, Services, And Benefits

By Willian Z. Houkei


An electronic health record (EHR) is a computerized, web-based, medical data system that allows multiple health organizations to access extensive patient records. The intent behind this easy interchange of information is to encourage organizations work together to provide patients with the best healthcare treatment possible and to save valuable resources. This software provides benefits to the healthcare personnel using them, and the patients under their care.

One feature of EHR systems is that they are completely secure, which means they protect patient confidentiality by only allowing medical staff with pre-assigned passwords to access the system. A system administrator would assign a group, or user, this access but in most cases this would not be complete access. This way a physician and nurse, for example, have a different set of access privileges based on their specific duties.

Most medical practitioners are also concerned with limiting the probability of malpractice suits. These electronic health record systems help avoid these by popping-up clear error messages, alerts, and reminders that warn physicians about drug interactions, contradictions, and dosage issues. These features are designed to help medical personnel troubleshoot areas that might need to be addressed, and to provide better quality healthcare to their patients.

The fact that EHR systems allow multiple healthcare related organizations to request and send patient records also saves time and increases efficiency. An optional aspect of the system that is called "application program interface" (API), further increases productivity by letting qualified medical personnel connect to additional data systems. This open exchange of information lets medical staff access the information they need to without sending a courier, making repeated phone calls, or resorting to standard mailing systems.

Hardcopy records also make it difficult to keep track of important patient records, which could cause short and long-term problems. EHR services, however, make the process simpler by keeping records of user activity, providing hourly remote server data backup (assuring files don't get lost), and making sure the information is protected from third party access.

These systems are also very convenient, allowing medical professionals to access the information from any computer, tablet, or other secure electronic device with internet access. The government also offers an "EHR Meaningful Use" incentive program to providers that use these programs in their medical practices, which is an added bonus to using them. So, everything considered, it appears EHR services really do save time and money.




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