The Implementation of EMR - Article Example

It is feasible to implement Electronic Medical Records (EMR) in hospitals that plan strategically to accomplish the inaugural state requirements of meaningful use. EMR is an essential and exciting step in the right direction. Currently in this rural area, there are no certified products of EMR in the market; however, the bodies responsible for certification are already planning to do so. This certification process and technological interoperability within healthcare facilities have been awarded significant thought and attention by government officials and healthcare leaders. The feasibility of implementing EMR is limited with time; however, the process of implementation is very realistic and feasible. This will bring major changes in the healthcare industry; therefore the implementation process should be given top priority due to its feasibility. The paper has ascertained that the creation of inter-related health systems, rather than stay-alone silos of rural healthcare systems is a realistic opportunity to implement EMR medical offices (Jones, 2008).

The implementation of EMR is beneficial in the following ways; EMR improves greatly the quality of care by keeping up-to-date patient records and enhancing their accessibility; EMR allows easy tracking of patients by clinic staff who need follow-up care; EMR allows physicians to find comprehensive patient medical records from the past; EMR improves the ability of clinicians to help the patients in managing the treatment of most complex diseases; and it also allows researchers and clinicians to analyze long term trends and patient data. On the other hand, implementation of the EMR has a lot of challenges some of which are: the need for training data clerks in data entry and management which can be expensive to the implementer; setting up a system of information technology can be much more expensive on the part of the implementer; the development and support of the software need long term resources; the necessity to involve local staff in designing and testing the system may be expensive to the implementer; and the technical needs such as system security and stable power supply. The EMR will help the local office in clinical care support, laboratory data management, analysis, and reporting, as well as stock management Hence, the paper has ascertained that the creation of inter-related health systems, rather than staying alone silos of rural health care systems is a realistic opportunity to implement an EMR medical offices (Kevin, 2010). Read More