Saving is what good healthcare, good business, and good operation are all about. With electronic medical records, there is no question as to whether or not you are saving. The answer is a simple, straightforward: yes. So what exactly are you saving on? To start, EMR systems are meant to speed up the process that does not involve quality doctor to patient time. Consider all the time spent waiting on paper documentation. From the patient’s perspective, the file needs to be located, perhaps copies need to be made. With high-speed everything, in our glamorous 2017 lifestyle, even a few minutes of waiting can through a schedule off. For the physician who is most likely following a tight schedule, for the patient, and for the front desk and reception who may first come in contact with the patient and their records, time is money. The fact is, paper wastes time, and EMRs save it.
Another resource that is saved through EMR programs is space. Paper documents require cabinets full of storage space while going electronic can clear up a substantial amount of room. With more space available, a practice could invest in further equipment, rearrange the setup, or simply enjoy the breathing room.
A healthcare facility is still a business, and money is always a priority. Though the setup of an EMR system may cost a pretty penny, in the beginning, it will quickly pay off, as large sums of money no longer have to be liquated between printer ink and paper. And let’s not forget paper. Going electronic is a major save for environmental efforts.
When a patient’s health is on the line, do you really want to leave it up to legibility? Handwriting can stir a number of questions from physicians and concerns from patients, two factors that should be avoided if they can be. And now they can be. EMRs also allow for digital imaging, further documenting efforts, and in some cases, more fields of information to fill for the most accurate representation. Plus, EMRs allow a patient’s information to be tracked over time for the utmost of understanding. This, of course, leads to the best results in healthcare.
When patients and other facilities see that EMR is a part of your system, they know that you are up to speed, modern, and reliable. Changing an old system for marketing purposes isn’t the reason to make a change. However, in a time when reviews and judgments are passed quickly and often, having the reputation of staying current certainly wouldn’t hurt.
With access via the cloud, the preservation of records remains far greater than forms of paper documentation that could very well suffer from natural disasters such as fires or floods, in which case new files need to be made and you and your facility could be working from scratch, yet another waste of time and resources for everyone involved.
We can’t quite teleport doctors from one facility to the next, but with an EMR system in place, we are getting close. If a patient transfers facilities or for whatever other reason needs to access documentation from a source that is not the facility he or she is currently in, getting that information from point A to point B is a hassle with paper documentation. And, again, there is the waste of time, but with an EMR system, the transfer is nearly second nature.
The integration between the business and health clinic is more concise, accurate, and speedy within the community. And if any information needs to reach walls beyond the facility, communication is made simple.
The ability to track information about where lab information is and where it is going instantly takes the guessing out of the game of healthcare (not a game). If patients or physicians are curious about the whereabouts of certain details, a definite answer is always a short click away.
Author:
Sarah Lisovich is a Chicago-based Health IT strategist at CIA Medical. With multiple years’ association with various healthcare IT vendors and the impact of various systems on medical practices, Ms. Lisovich explores the revolutionary world of healthcare technology in the hope of opening doors to those interested in the field by building an online community.
