1-877-206-4279
The sheer amount of information that needs to be collected and stored for medical purposes has led to the creation and evolution of electronic health records. Providers and medical personnel need to be able to document patient history, store it in a secure place, access it when needed, and share it with other providers quickly and easily. The use of electronic health records has changed and helped streamline all of these processes. In an electronic health record, all patient data is digitized, and having all of this information in one place allows a provider to get a full view of a patient’s history and make informed decisions about treatments and interventions.
Key Capabilities
- Providing a centralized location of all patient data with quick access to test results and any health concerns
- Aiding in streamlining the coordination of prescription and test orders as well as appointment scheduling
- Allowing for rapid and efficient communication between multiple providers and facilities
- Offering the opportunity to collect, consolidate, and analyze patient data to determine appropriate patient outcomes as well as identify demographic trends
- Meeting patients where they are using telehealth tools
Benefits
- Overall improvement in the quality of patient care
- Increased speed and efficiency in all aspects of care including scheduling, billing, and communication with patients
- Accurate and up-to-date patient information
- Reduction of errors
- Increased patient engagement and accessibility
- Better informed decision-making by providers
- Secure sharing of information between all involved providers and patients
Challenges
- High implementation costs
- Privacy and security concerns
- Staff resistance to use and lack of available training
- Lack of interoperability and difficult data migration from paper records
- Software and hardware limitations
Future Considerations
Over the next several years the use of electronic health records in the medical field will significantly increase due to increased healthcare demands and the critical need to consolidate information so that it is secure but also easily accessible. The future of electronic health records will be heavily influenced and changed with an increase in the availability of artificial intelligence which will be able to take over some of the more mundane tasks of information collection and diagnosis. Due to the amount of data that needs to be stored, medical facilities will begin to consider using cloud computing which can help increase scalability and allow for even better communication among healthcare platforms. Increased encryption in cloud computing will help keep records more secure in the face of growing cyber-attacks.
Educational Opportunities
To learn more about electronic health records and other healthcare IT tools, you can enter into the Health Information Technology Associate Degree program at Cambridge College of Healthcare & Technology. Cambridge offers a flexible, fully online program that provides students with the skills needed to obtain employment in the exciting healthcare field. The Health Information Technology program provides training in collecting, storing, and using patient health information in electronic health records as well as how to analyze this information for determining appropriate patient care. We encourage you to visit our website to learn more or fill out the Request Info form and someone from our team will contact you. We hope you will consider Cambridge as a partner in your educational journey.