Electronic Medical Records - Essay Example

Electronic Medical Records In the modern world, computer technology continues to make rapid advances for humanity and health care facilities today make use of computer programs extensively for administrative functions such as payroll and billing. The health care facilities use the electronic medical record (EMR) in the most effect way and it may be understood as medical records in digital format. The EMR makes use of presentation level as well as data level integration of existing systems which is essential to the process.

"The EMR is intended to integrate information from all departmental systems and deliver that information to health care providers at or close to the point of care." (Carter, 2001, p 7). Thus, the EMR has a complicated system which deals with the patient data in the most effective manner. The benefits of the EMR system in health care are several which help the practitioners immensely. "The system enables access to comprehensive, legible, and organized patient data and reference literature at the point of service.

" (Clayton, 2005). While the benefits of EMR in health care service are numerous, there are some significant disadvantages to the system which offer some crucial challenges to the practitioners. The major concerns about the use of the system are connected with set-up and training, productivity/efficiency concerns, connections to external data sources, privacy concerns, system performance and availability etc. The lack of confidentiality of the individual records which are managed electronically as well as the limitations connected with the software, hardware and networking technologies illustrate the major challenges faced when implementing a universal EMR system.

References Carter, Jerome H. (2001). Electronic Medical Records: A Guide for Clinicians and Administrators. American College of Physicians Press. p 7. Clayton, Paul D. (2005). "Physician use of electronic medical records: Issues and successes with direct data entry and physician productivity." Retrieved February 09, 2009, from http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgiartid=1560588