The Pros And Cons Of An Electronic Health Record

A patients medical history that is kept over time by a health provider and is found in an electronic version which reffered to as a electronic health record. Health records contain a patients admission, encounter, treatment and discharge (Davis & LaCour, 2014). Electronic health records go more in depth with information that is received from a patient under their care. There is more information that may be included in an electronic health record such as a particular provider, demographics, progress notes, problems, medications, vital signs, immunizations, laboratory data and reports (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2012).

An electronic record and a paper record have similarities and difference. They both compare with important

According to Davis & LaCour (2014), “one specific scenario highlighting the need for the EHRs occurred during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, when millions of health records were displaced and destroyed, leaving patients without access to their medical records” (p. 66). Paper records are not as secure as electronic records are. Paper records are stored in file cabinet and electronic records are stored in database that have privacy settings to them. Elctronic records are also good for patients because a patient can logon to the database to see their records. If New Orleans would have used electronic records than many of their residents would not have lost medical

Health records in the beginning can be challenging due to many reasons. Time consuming in the beginning can be a challenge to overcome. Accodring to Ajami & Bagheri-Tadi (2013), “Physicians do not take the time to properly become familiar with the available products, select an EMR, implement it, and then train to use it even though colleagues have invested time and realized great benefit” (Ajami & Bagheri-Tadi, 2013). Cost was another challenege that would be present and a future challenge. Hospitals that implement an EHR will need more IT personnel. With the EHR there are cost that have to be considered. We know that the services and purchase of an EMR are expensive, but some practices may not have a budget for IT personnel and other cost that come along with an EHR. Something interesting I came across is that most nonusers believe that there are more concerns with a patient privacy and confidentiality implementing electronic records (Ajami & Bagheri-Tadi, 2013). This thought is a challenege because of the patient information being stored in a computer and someone who is not authorized gain access to a patient