Despite Benefits, Digitized Medical Record Adoption Slow Among U.S. Health Care Providers
A Google news search on electronic health records brings up thousands of entries—it’s a huge topic of discussion among the health care industry and a favorite among many politicians with grandeurs of health care reform.
Very few articles point out reasons why the health care industry shouldn’t completely move to a digital medical record format other than the archaic method of hand writing records is so entrenched most health care providers won’t take the time to make the change. (Reports indicate that only 10 – 20 percent of U.S. health care providers currently use electronic medical record systems.)
Many providers indicate the change is cost prohibitive—even though most experts can show digital records will save more costs over time than the current system. Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski said to a reporter at The Oregonian that he saw a recent study that showed savings of $1 billion in Oregon alone if electronic health care records were in place.
Whether the entire medical record system converts to an electronic format or not, or the current handwritten system implements a more aggressive scanning system to digitize paper records, or a combination of both, digitized medical records solve a lot of today’s issues and costs.
- Sharing hardcopy records requires duplication services along with the methods needed to ensure confidentiality and privacy—digital records are easy to share once authorizations are in place.
- Reviewing and analyzing hardcopy records is cumbersome and time consuming—digital records are easier and allow for word searches and scans to speed review. They also improve accuracy of things such as prescribing prescriptions—difficult due to illegible handwriting.
- Organizing hardcopy records in multiple ways, such as by chronology and category, requires multiple copies—digital records can be stored with multiple categories easily.
- Protecting confidential hardcopy medical records from disaster, theft, or tampering by unauthorized individuals incurs storage, staff and security costs—digital records are easier to protect off site against disasters such hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
- Digitized medical records require very little physical storage space. Paper records require a large amount of storage space.
Overall, the shift to digital makes it easier to store, share, review, organize, and protect medical records in a much more efficient and cost effective manner. With digital records, the integrity of the original is never compromised, searching is easy, and sharing with others when necessary is fast, simple and inexpensive.
