Electronic Medical Records August 05, 2012 Electronic Medical Records With the world becoming more dependent

on technology so are medical records. Bet ween the years 2005-2006 they have established what is called electronic medical records, EMR. Like everything else there are advantages and disadvantages that come with electronic medical records. Electronic medical records were designed to reduce medical errors. In 2002 the i nstitute of medicine estimated that between 44,000 98,000 Americans die each year due to the medical errors made. Electronic medical records were designed to impr ove outcomes such as safety and quality care. For hospitals and physicians using electronic medical records, it has been shown that there was an improved outcom e of disease specific emergency room visits, and decreased hospital length stays . Researcher are hoping that by the time 2020 gets here that comprehensive electro nic medical records will be used by 90% of American doctors and 70% of hospitals . There is still the scare of cost with electronic medical records. Even though it has saved Medicare roughly $23 billion and $31 billion for private practices, obtaining an electronic medical record system is expensive to start up especial ly for private practices. They do have different options for smaller practices f or ones that do not have the funds coming in or them and use an ASP model which allows the smaller practices to rent the electronic medical records software. Psychologist has the most difficulty using the electronic medical records. Not b ecause it is difficult to use but because the information that goes into it. Whe n psychologist inputs information, they are basically informing members of the h ealth care that the patient is receiving some type of psychological care. Psycho logist find it hard to figure out what they should put in and what they should l eave out. With that psychologist are to disclose to the patients what can be all owed to view without their consent. Patients are able to obtain this information in writing just in case they have any questions or concerns later. Like all electronic devices there is a chance of the computer crashing and viewi ng the electronic medical records will be harder to obtain. Also the chance of t he records being breached or seen by someone else is a concern for most patients . Electronic medical records do have a monitoring system to view that has been l ooking at the files. Overall, I do believe that an electronic medical record is beneficial to the hea lth care system. Not only does it save time and paper, but it can be accessed qu ickly and reviewed. I do understand that the records can be accidently assessed by someone else but so can everything else on computer. References Richards, M. M. (2009). Electronic Records: Confidentiality Issues in the time o f HIPPA. Retrieved from University Library https://ehis.ebscohost.com/eds/detail ?vid=4&hid=1&sid=da67e6ad-f8c6-4b9a-9ae6-eda130f4894b%40sessionmgr4&bdata=JnNpdG U9ZWRzLWxpdmU%3d