Electronic Medical Records (EMR): Decoding Your Health’s Future

As a healthcare professional, we might not have embraced the change, but you see paper-based medical records have suddenly disappeared from use right?

Though they have not completely vanished, and some of the practices and patients still use them, a majority of healthcare practices have shifted to EMR (electronic medical records). An electronic medical record, simply known as EMR, has become the epicenter of almost every healthcare practice.

This is majorly because of the convenience it has brought in handling patient records. Furthermore, by improving the accessibility factor for both healthcare providers and patients, it brought focus on patient care activities such as medical history, diagnoses, medications and treatment plans.

Furthermore, a study suggested that around 40.6% of health managers use EMR data to make informed decisions about patient health. Becoming one of the major parts of the modern-day healthcare delivery system, the healthcare IT sector has seen a significant rise in the demand for EMR software development.

While building your own EMR is a different task altogether, let’s first decode the digital version of patient health records, which is EMR (Electronic Medical Records). So, without further ado, let’s get started.

Electronic Medical Records aka EMR

In simple terms, EMR (electronic medical records) are nothing but a comprehensive digital document which contains detailed information about the patient’s health. The electronic document contains important patient information from demographics, medical history, current or previous medications, ongoing treatment plans, etc.

Long story short, while practices have to hand out several paper-based records to patients, EMR compressed it to a digital version, bringing everything on one single digital paper or document.

EMR Vs. EHR: The Major Fine Line Different

If you’ve encountered the term Electronic Medical Records or EMR, then you must have also encountered EHR (Electronic Health Records). While they both appear the same on the base, there is a fine line difference between EHR and EMR that sets them apart from each other.

Moreover, one of the major reasons for this confusion is the use of EHR and EMR, as even healthcare providers use them interchangeably every now and then.

Having said that, coming back to the difference, an Electronic Medical Record stores patient data specific to a particular healthcare practice or provider. In simple words, Electronic Medical Records software is limited to a particular clinic, and they will be using that EMR software system for that particular practice alone.

On the other hand, an Electronic Health Record is a broader concept or can be said as an extended version of EMR. EHRs are more comprehensive and rather than being limited to one particular practice, it is sort of universal in nature. That is why interoperability is one of the core features of EHR software systems, as they can be shared across different providers and healthcare systems.

Given the rise in healthcare software development, many practices often confuse their EMR needs with EHR or vice versa. That is why understanding the core difference between an EHR and EMR system is extremely important.

EMR Benefits for Patients

Interestingly, despite the lucrative benefits that an EMR software development offers to healthcare providers in care delivery, patient willingness to use Electronic Medical Records is surprisingly high. For instance, a HIT survey found that 75% of patients want to view their medical records online with 76% agreeing to view their diagnostic test results as well.

On that note, let’s have a look at some of the benefits of EMR software development for patients:

1. Improved Access: EMR software development is sort of like the first step in taking your practice digital. And since you will be using your own EMR software, your patient population can easily access their medical records, from anywhere and at any time. By improving access, you indirectly empower your patients to proactively participate in their care journey and participate in decision making.

2. Enhanced Care Coordination: The EMR being the epicenter for care delivery, it brings the entire care team on the same page, working towards the same goal which is to improve patient health. By streamlining coordination between care providers and patients, better care is delivered by considering patient needs and preferences.

3. Reduced Errors and Improved Safety: By digitalizing the record-keeping system, you actually reduce, if not eliminate, the chances of human error while sharing records. Since medical errors can lead to severe health consequences, by eliminating or reducing those, EMR software improves the safety of the patient and ensures seamless and accurate care delivery.

4. Empowerment and Engagement: With EMR software development, you actually allow your patients to take control of their health. This empowerment leads to better adherence to their healthcare journey and proactive involvement in decision-making. Furthermore, the psychological impact data has on a patient’s adherence to diagnosis, medication, and care plan can lead to getting the desired patient health outcomes.

EMR Benefits for Healthcare Providers

As a healthcare provider, you must probably be using EMR systems in your practice. The EMR software system is such an integral part of day-to-day operations that its benefits are often overshadowed by its long use. To just put into words what you already know, here are some of the major benefits of EMR software development for healthcare providers:

1. Increased Efficiency and Productivity: EMR software development has different facets, which automate most of the manual tasks for healthcare providers. This allows them to focus more on patient care activities and not on administrative manual tasks. This alone improves the overall efficiency of the providers and allows them to consult more patients than usual.

2. Improved Quality of Care: The EMR software allows healthcare providers to have instant access to the patient’s health data with a comprehensive overview. With this healthcare providers can make better decisions and improve their overall quality of care and deliver better care faster.

3. Enhanced Communication and Collaboration: Custom EMR software development enhances communication and collaboration between the care team. As discussed earlier, with instant communication features, the EMR software brings the entire care team together on the same page. This way communication is streamlined and a collaborative ecosystem is developed to deliver care.

4. Reduced Costs: Last but not least, with EMR software, many intricacies in care delivery are overcome and gives you enough room to streamline and manage resources better. This alone helps the practice in significantly reducing the cost and when coupled with digital health care delivery infrastructure, it further bridges in care and reduces cost significantly.

Types of EMRs

EMR (Electronic Medical Records) is a generic term, and depending on the practice you are into, the type of EMR system you need changes. On a simpler note, here are some of the types of EMR systems based on the type of your setting:

1. Ambulatory EMR: These EMR software systems are used in outpatient settings like clinics, physicians offices or urgent care centers. Some of the core features of this EMR software is appointment scheduling, patient check-in, charting, electronic prescriptions and billing.

2. Long-term Care EMR: For practices who deal with long-term care delivery such as nursing homes, assisted living, etc., these types of EMRs are used and are tailored to managing chronic conditions, medications, etc.

3. Inpatient EMR: These EMR software systems are designed specifically for hospitals and other inpatient facilities. Moreover, it handles complex patient information from admission, discharge to transfer orders, medication, etc.

While the above EMR software systems might give you an idea about the type of EMR you need, on the basis of deployment, here are some types of EMR systems that would give you clarity in EMR software development processes:

1. On-Premises EMR: On-premises EMR is a type of EMR software that is installed on the provider’s service. It offers a high level of control and security, but it can be a little costly to not only set up but also maintain.

2. Cloud-based EMR: Cloud-based EMR, on the other hand, is hosted on a third-party server, which not only makes the system affordable but also easier to use. However, special attention must be given to data security and privacy.

3. Hybrid EMR: Finding a mid-way out of the confusing on-premises EMR and cloud-based EMR, the hybrid allows you to balance the data security and privacy measures while offering accessibility and cost savings with cloud technology.

The Future of EMRs

Given the advancements in healthcare technology, the landscape is constantly changing. That is why future-proofing your EMR software is extremely necessary. Here are some considerations that you must consider about the future of your EMR software during custom EMR software development:

1. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML): Artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms make headlines every now and then, considering their inclusion in EMR software development can be a game changer for the future of your healthcare practice, not just in care delivery but also in automating manual processes and administrative tasks.

2. Interoperability: The healthcare delivery is a collaborative effort between various healthcare professionals. Bringing that efficiency to the digital health landscape, achieving interoperability is necessary. It will not only allow you to exchange and share data effortlessly but also allow the meaning of the data to be the same.

3. Mobile EMRs: Given that smartphones are widely used by everyone, bringing your EMR on mHealth apps can further improve accessibility to health.

Frequently Asked Questions