Benefits of a Web based EMR

Doctors initially disinclined to archive medical records online are now earnestly switching over to web based EMRs comprehending the benefit it offers. Since all of the EMRs are, HIPAA compliant and the 128 encryption enabled data interchange in the EMRs ensures that privacy of the records is not at risk. The web based EMR allows doctors and healthcare providers to solicit transcription services from remote locations, and in the process lower their overhead costs by as much as 50%.

The doctors and clinics having an in-house transcription service pay approximately 20¢ for a line. An offshore company such as iSource through a 3rd party seamless integration with a clinic provides the service for just 10¢ a line. The benefits of switching from paper records to electronic medical records not only reflect on low overheads costs on transcriptions and document management processes, but also improve the quality of health care for the patients.

  • Medical records are easily accessible to consultants or referred clinicians
  • PHR (Personal Health Record) is accessible to patients
  • Patient’s health update available to Physician instantly
  • Minimized Hardware & Software costs in comparison to client-based software
  • Patient receives first-hand information on diseases and preventive medicines

Dictating notes is the preferred choice of 80% of the doctors

In a recent study to learn about the physicians preferred choice of documenting patient records from three available options such as dictation, structured data entry (keyboard, touch screen, mouse), or front-end speech recognition, 80% of the doctors preferred dictating notes as their most preferred choice.

The doctors felt that dictations are not only efficient but also simple and easy to document patient care. The costs in terms of documenting patient records was three times cheaper than structured data entry because patient records using the point and click process required the doctors to enter the data themselves, taking a minimum 8 to 10 minutes of their valuable time to complete a note.

The dictation mode of documenting patient records, on the other hand takes about a minute and since the documentation is taken care of by the medical transcriptionist, the per hour cost ratio of 1 : 10 is in favor of using dictations rather than letting  doctors use their valuable and expensive time in entering data into the structured process. The voice recognition process does not have many takers because of inaccuracies of the system.

The advantage of switching to EMRs

A clinician or a health provider switching to an EMR has many advantages, for instance paperless healthcare records relieves the burden of maintaining sheaf’s of paper for endless number of years, the doctors have instant access to health records at any time any place. The EMRs provide doctors the option of interacting with fellow doctors through a computer, without referencing hard copies of patient records.