{"id":7019,"date":"2016-12-19T07:12:56","date_gmt":"2016-12-19T07:12:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.medicalbillersandcoders.com\/blog\/?p=7019"},"modified":"2020-04-18T18:20:20","modified_gmt":"2020-04-18T12:50:20","slug":"boost-ehr-security-for-your-system-for-better-results","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.medicalbillersandcoders.com\/blog\/boost-ehr-security-for-your-system-for-better-results\/","title":{"rendered":"Boost EHR Security for your system for better results"},"content":{"rendered":"

EHR or Electronic Health Records, also often referred to as EMR or Electronic Medical Records is a very complex system that all medical practices need to implement. However, it is equally important that the security aspect is well taken care of. In short, EHR is here to replace the cumbersome paper medical records and charts that a physician needs to maintain for his or her patients. An EMR or EHR system<\/a><\/strong> involves scanning and digitizing all existing paper records along with the related medical charts and integrating them into a rather complex system.<\/p>\n

Diagnosis is easy with EHR<\/h2>\n

As a provider when you have EHR you will be able to have direct access to the patients\u2019 detailed health information. This detailed information will give you an overall picture of the patients\u2019 condition making the diagnosis a lot easier and faster. EHRs are meant to keep records of patients\u2019 medications, allergies and look out for any problems that may arise when the medication is changed. This information is conveyed to the clinician immediately.\u00a0 Even life-threatening allergies are recorded in EHRs and alerts are sent to the emergency staff.<\/p>\n

Security Angle<\/h2>\n

As far as the security angle is concerned providers should be aware of HIPAA<\/a><\/strong> or the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which is enforced by the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR). Health care providers need to abide by their obligations that come under the purview of the Privacy and Security Rules. While converting your records to EHR helps maintain better quality and offers ready accessibility, the obligations that providers have to keep such patient information private and secure remain unchanged.<\/p>\n

Patients\u2019 Rights<\/h2>\n

The HIPAA Privacy Rules entitle the patients with certain rights over their health information that is privy to providers and physicians. Irrespective of whether the records are maintained in paper form or electronic form the Privacy Rule entitles a patient to:<\/p>\n