In an industry notoriously slow to adopt new technologies, the EHR game has been a long one.
Don’t give up on the technology, stay focused on the end game.
It’s a fact that the potential of EHR technology is set to accomplish the mantra, the mission of every hospital I know: better patient care. While the technology, its implementation, and adoption is still quite nascent, the data and information available to doctors will ultimately save lives. It will help identify patient complications before they happen; decrease the number of hospital re-admissions; reduce patient safety events; compile data to change and improve treatment for chronic disease, and so much more.
And while much of the communication around EHRs has been about how digital records will improve workflow for providers, there are also undeniable benefits for healthcare consumers. The end game for EHRs looks like this from a patient perspective.
Quality and consistency from provider to provider
According to a recent report from the Institute of Medicine, 20 percent of patients reported that their test results or medical records weren’t transferred to another medical institution in time for an appointment, and 25 percent said their doctor had to re-order tests to have the correct information for diagnosis. [1] With EHRs, that will change. As you move from primary care physician to specialist to emergency care and so on, you no longer have to repeatedly fill out forms, have duplicate exams, lab tests, or even explain your symptoms to multiple care providers ’ your health history, medication history, lab results, family and social history and vital statistics all move with you once your provider joins a Health Information Exchange.
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