Welcome to EMR and HIPAA

I found a nice article in Medical Economics that had a list of 50 reasons to get an EMR or EHR. In this post I’ll cover the first 13 that talk about Better Access to Data and Better Charting.

Better access to data

1. Pull a patient chart within seconds rather than minutes.

2. Never waste time looking for a chart.

3. Open a patient’s chart on any computer in the office.

4. Have two or more people work with a chart at the same time.

5. Have clinical data at your fingertips when a consulting or referring physician calls.

6. Open the patient’s chart on a wireless computer when you see him in the hospital.

7. Access a patient’s chart online when he calls you at home at 2 a.m.

The biggest point is how quickly you can locate a chart. This is such a time saver. Sharing the chart with multiple users and being able to access the chart from multiple locations is also big. I don’t think most doctors realize how accessible an EMR can be for them while still securing a patient’s privacy. I’m a tech person and I still am amazed with the access I can have and the way I can control computers and access information remotely.

Better charting

8. Never worry about illegible handwriting (your malpractice carrier and local pharmacists will be happy).

9. Have patients complete a computer-guided medical history at home or in your office that downloads into the EHR.

10. Update medication and problem lists with every visit.

11. Import lab results, diagnostic images, and hospital discharge summaries into the patient’s record.

12. Create flow sheets and graphs for any kind of data—blood pressure, HbA1c, pediatric height and weight, etc.

13. Tap thousands of procedure and diagnosis codes—far more than a paper charge ticket can display.

Legible charts is the key one here. The other pieces really point to what you are able to do with the data that is entered. You can chart it, graph it, flag it and organize it. In fact, in an EMR you don’t have to do that for each chart. You do it once and every chart’s data is organized just the way you like it.

More 50 Reasons to get an EHR or EMR later!

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