Electronic Health Records (EHR)

Electronic health records, or EHR, are simply the collection of patients medical records kept online rather than in paper charts. Sometimes called electronic medical records, they can be configured to work according to the offices specific needs1. There are many advantages to having EHR. With advantages come disadvantages, which I will discuss later in this paper. Medical records have been around since the 1960’s when the Mayo Clinic began using them. Technology was slow to move into ambulatory care though. President George W. Bush outlined a plan shortly after his State of Union address in 2004, to ensure that most Americans would have electronic records by the year 20141. Going into 2016 now, most if not all medical offices and hospitals are equipped with the necessary technologies for electronic health records. EHRs allow physicians to easily locate lab results, consultations, x-rays and exams from other providers. It gives them access to medical information from many locations in the healthcare facility and to quickly search for and
Not only do providers have to buy equipment but efforts must be taken to transfer all the paper charts to electronic form. Further training on the software adds additional costs in paying for trainers. Unfortunately the new technology will cause even the best nurses and doctors to struggle, diverting their attention and focus away from the most important thing, the patient. Along with technology come glitches and frozen computers, causing delays in the schedule. One concern many people have is about the safety and security of their records, which by HIPAA should be confidential. Hackers are people who illegally obtain access to a computer network. They may be able to penetrate electronic health records despite all the security precautions. This would then give the hacker ability to release confidential information to