Articles
Making A Successful Transition To Electronic Medical Records
March 19, 2010
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By Jim Johnson, Director of Document Management, Cintas
The U.S. government is strongly pushing for healthcare providers to transition to electronic medical records (EMRs). With hopes of achieving significant cost savings across the healthcare system, President Obama is working to digitize the healthcare records of all Americans by 2014. His economic stimulus package contains substantial funding incentives to entice hospitals and medical offices to jump on board. However, penalties also loom. Providers who treat Medicare and Medicaid patients and do not transition to paperless systems within five years could potentially lose some of its regular government funding.
In this digital age, EMRs prove to be more efficient than managing endless stacks of paper medical files. Benefits which will improve healthcare operations include:
- Easy, real-time access to a patient's medical history as all records can be maintained in a single database
- Increased accuracy by eliminating reporting errors often caused by a doctor's illegible handwriting
- Enhanced quality of care because doctors can access and assess potential drug allergies and dangerous drug interactions instantly
- Reduced overall healthcare costs by eliminating the need to duplicate testing and screening due to misplaced files
•Article: Making A Successful Transition To Electronic Medical Records
