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Electronic health records can be more secure, efficient than paperBy Barbara Brown Paper medical records are seen as old school in most health information circles and physicians, medical records managers and others in the field know that going electronic may be the only way the industry can keep up with changing technologies in other fields and keep up with the records created from a growing population. For the past several years, the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) has been pushing for the development of the electronic medical record (EMR) in an effort to push the current American health system from a paper-based one to one that uses an electronic health information infrastructure. Though the name may strike fear into the hearts of some people, electronic health records will not be an all-access pass for insurance companies to use against patients. Instead, the intent of the record is to make for more efficient, accurate and clear records that ultimately would help patients, doctors and insurance companies. In the meantime, many questions have arisen about how to secure the electronic health record and how to move from the paper systems currently in place in most hospitals and doctors offices to computerized documentation. AHIMA organized a task force to come up with practices that would then be passed on to members to facilitate the movement from paper to electronic records while not losing a personalized touch for patients along the way. The AHIMA is the professional association that represents more than 46,000 health information management professionals. It also is the accreditation agency for the 286 American college and university degree programs in health information management. AHIMA encourages continued education of those people who daily deal with the intricacies of health records of patients from family practitioners to emergency room physicians. Two of the goals of the electronic record are to make health records more easily accessible by physicians and to make them more up-to-date quickly. The task force assigned to develop practice standards addressed several areas including a complete medical record in a not-yet-ready electronic medical record environment, allowing electronic signatures by providers and using electronic mail between providers and patients. ěThe future ability of the health care industry to manage information and to easily access and use best practices will be vital to successfully improve heath care outcomes and productivity,î said Dr. Marion Ball, a task force member. Kathleen Frawley, a consultant with The Health Care Financial Groupís health information management division, said the original vision for the EMR came from a study done by the Institute of Medicine in 1991. Frawley has represented AHIMA at the federal level by testifying before Congress, the Department of Health and Human Services, Federal Trade Commission and other federal agencies on issues affecting the health information management profession. She also has acted as spokesperson for AHIMA on legislative and regulatory initiatives and policy development and performed assessments for privacy, confidentiality and information security compliance. The 1991 study called for a national electronic health record practice that would be up and running by 2000. However, the dream nationwide system still is not 100 percent, Frawley said. ěUnfortunately, we still have no national standards in this country for a clinical vocabulary or standardized data formats,î Frawley said. ěThis has been an ongoing effort for the past several years.î Cost is another factor in why the EMR has been delayed for nearly three years. Many physicians may not be able to afford the electronic systems, particularly with decreasing reimbursements to supplement their budgets and technological advancements. Hospitals also are facing problems of their own because they have systems that are not compatible with the newer technology, which is expensive to install. For patients, there are many benefits to the EMR, Frawley said. Health information in an electronic format actually could be more secure and efficient than a paper-based record. ěInformation could be retrieved rapidly at the point of care,î Frawley said. ěIf a patient was to be hospitalized in another state, information could be disseminated more quickly. ěRight now, we have to find the paper records, photocopy any test results and fax them.î ©ECM Post Review |