Find Out The Numerous Ways Your Business Can Benefit From Ehr

By Author: John Cory
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EHR, an acronym for electronic health record, is a system that contains complete and reliable patient information, which is easily accessible to qualified users. In comparison with other recording systems, patient records in EHR provide more comprehensive facts about a patient's health. The data comes from various medical provider, from laboratory technicians to specialty doctors. With EHR, anyone who is part of the team designated to administer care for the patient can securely input, manage and access medical information when needed.

There are various benefits that can be derived from maintaining an EHR. Patients, for example, can open their medical records expediently, regardless of a change in provider or location. Members of the team involved in providing care to a patient can readily get the information they need or share the information they have securely through EHR. Since everyone has better access to information, communication channels are open and this promotes better coordination when it comes to providing care.

Information is power, and medical providers can utilize EHR to know everything ...
... they need to know about the patient's health history, and give him quality care. This is vital in order to implement a more coordinated patient care. For example, with EHR, the patient's primary care provider can enter information about a patient's life threatening allergy, so that if in case of emergency and the patient is not able to relay this information himself, people in the emergency department can have access to this very critical piece of information. Another advantage of EHR is that it empowers a patient and encourages him to have a more active role in his own health his family's health. From the comforts of his own home, he can access his medical records and look at the findings in his laboratory tests. By being able to view his records and monitor his own progress, he can adjust his lifestyle accordingly.

EHR helps in averting duplicate testings that can be both time and money consuming. By looking at a patient's record, a healthcare provider can obtain information from test results and will not have to conduct tests that will only yield similar data. It is also electronic health record system that makes it hassle-free for a patient to change practice or provider.

There are many legislations passed that are geared towards improving healthcare in the United States and one of the legislation is the HITECH Act, a bill that promotes use of electronic health records by giving out financial incentives to medical providers. There are qualifications that needed to be met in order to receive these incentives, and one of the qualifications is to meet EHR meaningful use objectives.
There are loads of information just waiting to be verified on EHR or electronic medical records. Danielle M. Saady is a professional writer that contributed on this article.