What is an EMR? Everything you need to know
In modern times, when you visit a doctor, have you seen them scribbling down things using a pen? Probably not!
It is because of the EMR- Electronic Medical Records. Many healthcare professionals take patient’s notes electronically. So, an EMR is a facility that stores important information about patients. This information generally consists of the patient's health and medical history.
In this article, let’s learn everything you need to know about what an EMR system is, its pros, some popular EMR examples, and much more.
So, let’s dive in!
EMR- Brief Introduction
EMR, aka, Electronic Medical Record lets you collect a patient's medical data into a cloud-based or server-based software. Each patient has his health record stored in the EMR software.
It helps you manage the electronic report of the patient. This record contains data related to ailments of the patient, their medical history, treatments, and diagnoses as well. They come in different forms ranging from a dynamic form having multiple fields, and multiple drop-downs, to a scanned report of a simple paper chart.
A specific portion of the healthcare community, EMR is software that healthcare professionals use to provide healthcare services to patients.
Here are some main reasons why EMRs were developed:
Real-time tracking of patient data
Providing timely notifications to the patients related to regular checkups, and other services.
Observing cash flow and other operations
Out of curiosity, if you are searching for what information an EMR stores, here’s the list:
Diagnosis of ailments
Demographic information
Healthcare Notes
Lab test reports
Medical and medication information
Allergy information
Immunity records
Patients can access their data using online portals
Providers can prescribe medicines easily
Notify the patient for certain laboratory tests, and much more
What are the Benefits of Using EMR Software at a Medical Practice or Hospital?
Some common benefits of using EMR software are:
Minimizing and avoiding medical errors
Improving the efficiency of daily operations
Improved coordination of healthcare between the staff
Faster and stronger treatment
Some noticeable advantages of using EMR by healthcare professionals:
Minimizing administration cost of patient information
Allows e-prescribing
Automatic scanning of medicinal interactions
Helps with the referral process throughout the forms and clinics of care
Prevents errors and fines as per HIPPA-compliant
Main advantages of EMR software for the patients:
Easy sharing of their healthcare data to different doctors when needed
Easy access to their medical information using an online portal
Data is stored securely, so no need to worry about the data
Different types of EMR
Let’s discuss different types of EMR systems present in the market to fulfill different requirements of the healthcare domain. Here are the most popular ones:
Cloud-based EMR Systems
Cloud-based EMRs provide you with the functionality to access data remotely. You don’t have to be physically present at the office to retrieve the patient’s information.
You just need a compatible device with proper internet access. This process is possible due to the servers that store data are maintained outside your place. So, it’s called cloud-based EMR.
Moreover, this type of EMR system is less expensive than EMR systems located on the premises.
Certified EMR Systems
When we are talking about EMR & EHR, some of them are certified while some are not. A certified system means that it fulfills the high securing and functionality requirements of the Office of National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.
Certificates are taken seriously and are very strict. Any violation or security breach can revoke this certification from the site and different serious consequences may happen as per the US Department of Justice.
Mental Health EMR Systems
Specific EMRs are made especially for psychologists, therapists, psychiatrists, and different mental healthcare professionals. These EMRs have special features that are personalized for taking care of the mental health of patients. These systems have advanced note-taking features for keeping the patients engaged.
So basically, EMRs eliminated the requirement to have paper and pen records. Ultimately, healthcare providers can accurately store the patient's data through digital mediums. It also provides stronger security and can be worth investing in for physicians and patients.
Moreover, EMR is generally considered to be a synonym of EHR- Electronic Health Record. But, they are different. Let’s see what’s the difference between EMR and EHR.
EMR vs EHR- What’s the difference?
In modern healthcare, EMRs and EHRs play crucial roles in managing patient information. However, a key difference lies in their portability and transferability.
EMRs are confined to specific medical settings, hindering easy sharing across different clinics or hospitals. Unlike EHRs, which facilitate seamless data exchange, EMRs limit patients' ability to share their medical history efficiently. Bridging this gap is essential for enhancing healthcare efficiency and patient care, emphasizing the importance of interoperability between EMRs and EHRs.
FAQs on EMR
Where’s the data stored in the EMR system?
The EMR data is locally stored, for instance, the data can be stored on a healthcare provider’s computer or a server.
Some cloud-based EMR software stores data on off-premise or external servers & can be accessed from outside as well.
What’s the Difference between EMR and EHR?
EMR and EHR are the two terms that are used interchangeably. But they are very different from each other and have different benefits.
EMR and EHR are used by doctors to enhance the quality of help and care provided to patients. However, EMR is considered to be an internal system that’s not designed to share data outside the professional’s practice. It is a record of each visit to the doctor. EMR is a must-have system if you want to have EHRs.
On the other hand, EHR is an inter-organizational platform. It is an amalgamation of different EMR records from different doctors and hospitals in one place. It can be shared easily with different doctors and usually has more data about the patient than that in EMR.
Is the EMR system secure?
EMR systems are considered safer than paper-written records as they are both password-protected and stored electronically. So, if you have protected your EMR with a secure password and not provided access to any unnecessary third-party vendors, your EMR is safe from the majority of hackers.
Final Verdict
We hope that this article has proven to be a perfect guide for you, and you have understood everything necessary about Electronic Medical Reports. Using EMR is beneficial for both patients as well as the healthcare professionals. Hence, it’s time to switch to EMR and EHR if you are still following traditional paper chart methods to store patient’s healthcare information.