The debate of using Electronic Health Records (EHR) or follow the paper based system to maintain collectibles and other records is raging from such a long time now that it has become a part of healthcare folklore. However, there is no question that EHR is a smarter choice and a far better method of managing records and collectibles.
But then, we have to consider those practices for which managing an EHR set up might be difficult and the cost of installing it and training their employees on the EHR software might be pretty high so they might end up sticking to the paper based system. Alternatively, it could also mean that many practices are simply not aware of the benefits of using the EHR software.
Another aspect to be considered is, the transition needs to be managed on many complex levels; like administrative, financial, cultural, technological and so on.
Benefits of Electronic Health Records
Let us look at the benefits of using EHR over the traditional paper based system. When we compare the two it will be clearer why medical professionals should opt for the computerized approach.
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Becoming more efficient
Medicine is an information rich industry where the team should be able to efficiently enter and process it. EHR systems connect the providers with payers and other entities over the network. This helps in determining the patient’s insurance billing and also submitting data for online billing. The EHR software has been designed in such a way that data can be entered with minimal mouse movements and keyboard clicks which saves man hours and the data needs to be entered only once.
Another factor is that it allows old documents to be scanned so it does not have to be retyped. It also has a speech recognition software installed where professionals can speak and their words appear on the patient record.
These aspects make the usage of EHR more efficient.
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Enhanced security factor
In the paper based system one needs to use filing cabinets with locks and locked document storage rooms to keep unauthorized people from viewing confidential patient data.
With the help of the modern EHR systems one can control what access needs to be given to whom; moreover, it has a feature where one can check which user accessed which file and when.
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Backing up of data
One of the most vital benefits of an EHR system is that the data gets backed up and stored on cloud computing services. In the case of paper based system it is difficult to take back up of data due to the sheer volume of pages that would be there for each patient.
Conclusion
From the points mentioned above it has become increasingly clear that EHR gives the providers far more efficiency compared to the paper based system. For a more complete and revolutionized solution, providers can tie up with MedicalBillersandCoders.com. They will get the best of services and they can concentrate on their core task of taking care of patients.
Published By - Medical Billers and Coders
Published Date - Dec-15-2014
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