I’ve been discussing the case for EMR implementation recently both on my blog and in emails with various people. In fact, someone even recently commented that the cost of an EMR was less than the EMR stimulus money and so it was a negative return on investment. I quickly responded that maybe he was looking at the wrong EMR companies and also that there were other benefits to implementing an EMR beyond just the EMR Stimulus money.

One example of these benefits is those people who have multiple locations. I was recently talking with someone about how they managed paper charts between multiple offices. What a mess. I’m sure those who read this blog who have done this know about all the challenges. The most important of which is that sometimes you’re left without the chart from the other office when giving care or at a minimum it takes time to get the info from the chart in the other office.

The beauty of an EMR is that as long as you have an internet connection in each location, you can access the full electronic medical record no matter where you see the patient. That’s just one example. Having an EMR solves a number of problems with having multiple locations.

In fact, most EMR are available to you as long as you have an internet connection. Now that mobile broadband internet has become so prevalent, that’s almost anywhere you’d want to access the chart.

Just one more reason to implement an EMR that doesn’t have anything to do with ARRA EMR stimulus money.