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BENEFITS FOR A DIGITAL MEDICAL
PRACTICE
In addition to the above, few of the critical
advantages that a medical practice or a hospital
will experience are the following
Creating secure 24/7 access to up-to-date patient
records will mean improved patient care.
Flexibility in workflow - transcription can
be done remotely as well and not essentially in
the doctor's office.
Workflow efficiency
Improvement in clinical data capture
Secure availability of patient records at multiple
locations
Facilitate clinical decision support
Patient satisfaction
employee/physician satisfaction
Adherence To ePHI security and regulations
Increase medical staff productivity.
LIMITATIONS IN GOING DIGITAL
Despite the advancements in technology and the
obvious benefits of having a digital medical practice,
there are many practices and providers who are
not even inclined towards going digital.
General perspective: Most of the hoped-for
improvements from electronic medical records are
still hypothetical; say many providers and healthcare
industry experts. Replacing paper records will
take 15-20 years. A study on going digital states
- "The potential savings would not be realized
immediately," and doctors and hospitals making
the investments would get fewer of the profits.
Data Capture: Paper documents are still
widely preferred. The main hurdle is getting practitioners
to use the computer. This involves several changes;
from handwriting and/or dictation to point-of-care
computer input which many physicians are not at
all comfortable doing. Physicians are reluctant
to make changes that might require them to spend
more time with computers and less providing medical
care.
Solutions to go paperless do not match workflow.
Though they recognize the benefits of a digital
record, many physicians and nurses will work around
any solution that does not fit their existing
workflow.
Lack of motivation and knowledge: Staff
at a hospital or a medical practice will resist
change thinking it will affect their jobs, not
realizing, it will make them more productive.
Infracture and cost requirements - many
electronic information systems need a robust technical
infrastructure, interoperability; backup, hardware
platform and communication systems. Such systems
do not come cheap and the ROI is not quick, it
takes at least 2 years. With so many companies
offering different forms of EMR systems, problems
of compatibility between systems of different
facilities might arise.
Concern over privacy and confidentiality
- providers and patients alike are quite wary
going digital citing privacy and confidentiality
concerns.
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