Benefits And Barriers Of Electronic Medical Record (EMR) Adoption

The consensus among healthcare professionals is that while the last two decades have produced significant technological advances, the majority of United States-based healthcare providers and facilities remain ‘behind the mark' in achieving their full potential for delivering informed and expedient treatment.

In the complex and intricate world of healthcare there exists a myriad of solutions that promise to help these organizations to reach the goal of optimized service.

The Benefits of EMR

A well designed EMR system can enable many notable improvements in the efficiency and effectiveness of healthcare facilities. Some of the most common benefits are:

Easier access to well-organized patient information, helping clinicians and administrative staff make more informed decisions in less time.

Improved accuracy of patient data, achieved by eliminating handwritten documents that are often illegible or misinterpreted and limiting manual data entry (as outlined in the first part of The Joint Commission's National Patient Safety Goals report).

Increased productivity, as documents are instantly accessed and distributed via electronic workflow (in keeping with the Joint Commission's second goal to "Improve the effectiveness of communication among caregivers").