Electronic health records (EHRs) are digital copies of a patient’s medical history that can be easily transferred between healthcare providers. EHRs offer benefits such as secure storage, remote access, and quick transfer of medical background to attending physicians. Although costly to set up, the benefits outweigh the initial expense.
Sometimes referred to as digital health records, electronic health records are copies of an individual’s medical history that are stored as electronic data. Medical records can cover a wide range of aspects of a patient’s health while being archived in a format that is easily transferable between healthcare providers. The use of electronic health records has generally met with great support, as data files can be securely transferred within minutes in the event of an emergency.
There are several benefits to using electronic health records, or EHRs. First, there’s the matter of storage. Patient records are easily stored on system hard drives, as well as stored on some type of storage device that takes up a fraction of the space required by traditional paper records. This means that the complete medical history of all patients associated with a doctor’s office can be archived on a few CDRs, making them easy to grab in case of imminent damage to the doctor’s office or clinic.
Electronic health records can also be stored on remote servers. This means that even if a natural disaster destroys the facility where paper copies of medical records are kept, electronic versions can be recovered and a new paper file assembled. Archived records can only be accessed with the proper credentials, so there’s even less chance of records being tampered with than with hard copies.
Third, electronic health records can be quickly forwarded to an attending physician when the patient is traveling and in need of medical care. The early receipt of medical background can make a huge difference in the treating physician’s ability to adequately treat the patient, as it provides the healthcare professional with background that may be relevant to the current healthcare situation. This makes electronic health records especially important for people taking medications or dealing with an ongoing medical condition.
While setting up a process for creating electronic health records can be costly upfront, the benefits to both patient and clinician easily outweigh this initial expense. Over time, it is generally believed that the use of electronic health records can save time, reduce transcription errors, and generally be beneficial to all stakeholders.
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