Technology and medicine
In today’s society, most industries have been tasked with the responsibility of incorporating the use of technology in their day to day activities. Advancements in technology have been so beneficial that most industries are opting to leave their traditional methods of operation and adopt the use of technology to improve their quality of service. Technological devices such as computers have been incorporated by various organizations due to the advantage they bring to the industry. One field that has not been left behind is the medical industry which is slowly embracing the use of technology so as to offer better care to patients and make work easier for care givers. A new trend that is seen in the health care industry is the replacement of paper records with more convenient electronic medical records. While paper records have been used for a long period and were somewhat effective, electronic medical records are now the most preferred due to the advantage that they have over paper records.
In the past, prescriptions and any other vital information regarding a patient, their condition and required treatment method were noted down in paper. The records were then kept in a place that was accessible to ensure that the health institution had a systematic way of keeping track of all its patients (Hoyt, 2017). While this was the most favored method, it was greatly flawed in that the accuracy of the information kept in these paper records were determined by the legibility of the written information. As is common with most doctors, the hand writing used to make and update the paper records was difficult to read as doctors rarely took the time to ensure that what they were writing was clear and easily understood by a third party. This made it difficult for the patient and even for other nurses who had to review the patient’s records (Hoyt, 2017). With electronic medical records however, legibility is not an issue since the information is stored in a font that is clear and easily read by anyone who reads the files. Better records allow for better treatment as doctors and patients can read the records and learn the accurate procedures to be followed on the journey to recovery.
Another advantage that electronic medical records have over paper records is that they are relatively hard to be damaged. In the case of paper records, factors such as fire and water could easily destroy the records with no hope of recovery (Hoyt, 2017). Time was also a challenge as the paint would disappear from the records over time thus making paper medical records very vulnerable. However, electronic medical records are more durable and therefore safe. The records are saved in electronic devices such as computer hard drives or even through the cloud services offered through the internet. Multiple copies of the medical records can be made to further enhance the security of the patients’ information. In case of a fire or contact with water, the only damage caused will be to the computers but not the records themselves. The data can be retrieved by using other computers thus ensuring that the records kept are always safe and secure (Hoyt, 2017).
Electronic medical records also help to enhance the quality of care offered at health institutions by ensuring that the information regarding a patient is easily available and in real time. Since the records are updated automatically every time a health practitioner treats the patient, the information is always accurate and up to date (Kawasumi et al, 2005). Doctors viewing the records before treating a patient will therefore have reliable and accurate information to ensure that the treatment offered is necessary and will not lead to any medical errors. The records also help in ensuring that patients get the correct prescriptions. The physicians are able to communicate with physicians in real time through a method that is clear and the medication is easily read to ensure that the patient receive the correct medication. In advanced systems, the technology is able to check the medication being prescribed to a patient to assess whether there will be any danger for the patient in using the prescribed drugs (Bisk, 2017).
Before electronic medical record keeping, doctors found it difficult to track the medical history of a patient such as the medication the patient was currently using, any medical procedures that the patient had undergone and other information especially when multiple doctors were working on one patient (Bigelow et al, 2005). While this may have been a challenge when relying on paper medical records, electronic medical records are more convenient as they allow multiple doctors to read and update a patient’s record, regardless of their location within the health facility in actual time thereby allowing them to batter treat the patient. The information is not only accessible by doctors but also by other departments such as the physicians who rely on this up to the minute information so as to give the recommended medication to the patient (Hoyt, 2017).
Another advantage that electronic medical records have over paper records has to do with storage where the latter tends to occupy more space. Electronic medical records are easier to store as one only need the storage space found in hard drives of computers (Kobeissi, 2015). Rather than relying on shelves as is the case in paper medical records, electronic medical records are easily stored in hard drives which not only reduce the space accounted for storage but also the time taken to access the information stored. Accessing patients records is at the click of a button unlike is the case with paper records where the doctor has to go through various files before finding the required file. The ease of access also makes accessing the files faster and in cases where time is an issue, electronic medical records could save a life (Kobeissi, 2015).
References
Bigelow J, Bower A, Girosi F, Hillestad R, Meili R, Scovvile R and Taylor R, (2005) “Can electronic medical record systems transform healthcare? Potential health benefits, savings and costs” Health Affairs
Bisk, (2017) “Benefits of electronic health records” USSF Health,
Kawasumi Y, Pereira J, Poissant L and Tamblyn R, (2005) “The impact of electronic health records on time efficiency of physicians and nurses: A systematic review” Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association
Kobeissi B, (2015) “Examining the difference between the use of electronic medical records and the productivity of patient care in Canada: 2014 national physician survey” Canadian Medical Association
Hoyt E, (2017) “Benefits of switching to an electronic health record” Practice Fusion
