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The Advantages of Electronic Medical Records

Changing regular paper records might seem like a time consuming and expensive initiative during the initial stages of imputing the current information of patients but the advantages for using an electronic medical record system far outweigh the disadvantages. Electronic medical records systems such as the one used by Medicare Local are assisting health care practitioners to provide a higher level of care to patients.

electronic medical records

Efficiency

One of the most important advantages for using an electronic medical record system is that they save a lot of time in retrieving information about a patient. This means that if someone moves from one State to another, or even from one suburb to another, the information is stored on one central system so it can be accessed a lot more quickly than if it was on paper. Usually a doctor or health care professional would have to request the hard copy of documents and paperwork for a patient to be sent to wherever the patient is receiving care now. With the electronic medical records system the information could be transferred within minutes which would mean that the patient could receive care a lot more quickly. This could allow for the patient to be diagnosed quickly and immediately which could save their life in some situations.

Not only is it advantageous for saving time it also allows for health care practitioners to retrieve information in cases where the patient is unable to provide it themselves due to being unable to communicate the details of their condition effectively. 

Space Saving

The amount of space needed to store medical records takes up a lot of space in hospitals and health care facilities which could be better used to provide more beds for patients. Having an electronic medical records system means that this space can be utilised for the purpose of treating patients rather than holding unnecessary files that may not be used very often.

Co-ordination of Care

Some patients may require ongoing health care from several health care practitioners at once. This would mean that they would each have their own files about the patients progress. Having all of this information on a central electronic record system would mean that the information could be shared among health care facilities so that the information is kept up to date. This would ensure that any new developments in the patient’s condition would be easily accessible to the person treating them. As a result health care practitioners would be able to provide a much higher level of care and retrieval of a new patients information within their networks, regardless of how they are treating the patient.

Environmentally Sound

Apart from the amount of space needed to store paperwork for hard copy medical records, it also uses a lot of paper, which means more trees and cause greater environmental impact. By using an electronic records system it means that the paper and cardboard used to keep hard copy medical records is no longer needed.

Photo credits:  stockimages of FreeDigitalPhotos.Net

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