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The rise of Electronic Medical Record (EMR) has raised quite a number of questions. The most obvious of all questions is how these new electronic systems can contribute to improvements in how health care is serviced. The answer is the modern improvements in medical record sharing and transmissions can only deliver positive results. The growth […]
The rise of Electronic Medical Record (EMR) has raised quite a number of questions. The most obvious of all questions is how these new electronic systems can contribute to improvements in how health care is serviced. The answer is the modern improvements in medical record sharing and transmissions can only deliver positive results.
The growth of modern technology like EMR is a very good thing. Among the reasons for this is technology has affected the medical community in scores of different ways. Among those ways is through the recording of medical records via new technology. The traditional means of storing documents on paper might only be good when a physician has easy, quick access to them. That is not always going to be the case and the lack of access can be a major problem.
Those who have suffered from various serious medical ailments likely know their medical records are critical to being able to always get the best and proper care. A person with a preexisting condition or someone who may have special medications requirements might not always be able to communicate such things to a doctor who is not his/her primary care physician. In some cases, the ability to communicate a medical history is going to be extremely difficult under any circumstances. A person who has suffered a major injury in a car accident, a person who has fell victim to a heart attack, or someone who is otherwise incapacitated simply is not going to be able to convey even basic information much less serious, detailed, and critical info.
Thanks to the advent of new modern technology, there is a way physicians can communicate with one another. Access to records on a need to know basis becomes much easier. When medical records are stored on the data drives, a physician who may require access to them and then make an immediate request. In some cases, participating hospitals and physicians may already be connected to a particular network.
Once information such as this is revealed, it becomes obvious the tracking and storage of medical records can have a good effect on providing better health care.
Concerns about privacy have arisen and no one would be wrong or overly concerned to have worries about privacy. Seeing one’s medical records fall into the hands of those who should not be seeing them would be a terrible thing.
That said, the chances of the records being accessed by someone who should not see them are extremely remote. There are quite a number of safeguards in place to prevent unauthorized access to documents. No hospital or doctor is going to allow for the breach of records whether they are electric versions of hardcopy ones.
The transmission of the records may be required in a number of circumstances. Having the electronic version presents many positive opportunities for helping ensure the right medical care is received in an emergency. The truth is a person is at far greater risk of suffering a medical emergency than he or she ever would be of having to deal with an errant and mysterious security breach of a private citizen’s medical records.
The chances that another physician may require a copy of the records in an emergency scenario may, sadly, occur. Again, emergencies do take place. Calling a hospital at an odd hour of the evening to pull hardcopy records so they may be read over the telephone is not exactly the most efficient way things can and should be done. Delays and errors may be possible. This is not to suggest problems would be rampant, but any time a less efficient method is being employed then the chances of a troubled outcome occurring increase.
There are always going to be serious concerns about whether or not one approach to getting the best medical care is better than others. Enhancements in technology often infer that improvements have been made. The one issue here is not every improvement is a welcome one as nervousness about whether or not the new changes in health care can bring more problems than improvements. When it comes to the issue of electronic medical records, there can be only improvements. EMR records offer faster and more focused delivery of medical information when needed. For that reason alone, these new innovations are enormously helpful.
