If you're still operating a manual medical records system, read on – this article will introduce you to a system that can save you time, money and stress.
What are electronic medical records?
Electronic medical records are digital files containing all your patient consultations, appointment times, comments, prescriptions and treatments. They are inputted directly to a practice computer network by doctors, nurses and administrative staff and automatically updated each time a new entry is made. As a result, completely up-to-date patient files can be viewed by any authorised member of staff at any time.
What are the benefits for your practice?
Think of all those cumbersome filing cabinets dominating your office. Think of all the time you and your staff spend sifting for files, then sifting further for specific patient facts. And think of all those manual files being marched from reception to consultation rooms and possibly being misplaced along the way. With electronic medical records there's no need for filing cabinets and exact data can be found with a couple of mouse clicks. Electronic medical records allow you to transfer a patient's complete medical file from one department to another, even send it to a hospital quickly and easily; no manual files, no chance of anything being misplaced. All this saves you considerable administrative and consultation time; time that not only cuts costs, it allows you to see more patients per day.
What are the benefits for patients?
Speed and accuracy which translates into faster diagnoses and treatment. With electronic medical records everything you need for a consultation is onscreen in an instant. No wading through a mountain of paper for previous notes on prescriptions and treatments; detailed data can be found in seconds and updated in real time across your entire system. In a nutshell electronic medical records allow you to provide fast, precise care for all your patients with a minimum of fuss.
