The Allure Group explains why EMR (electronic medical records) are on the rise in the world of healthcare. EMRs help prevent mistakes, allowing medical professionals to monitor patients' progress and allow patients easy access to their medical history, leading to better, less expensive care for people across the globe.

1. IN HEALTHCARE
THE RAPID GROWTH OF
T H E A L L U R E G R O U P
EMR

2. If in the past a physician was
inclined to grab a pen, he
now grabs a mouse.
If he once scrawled a
patient’s particulars on a
notepad, he now enters the
information into a computer.

3. Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) have gone, in short order,
from novelty to necessity. Propelled in no small part by federal
edict, they are now as common as a stethoscope, the hope being
that their use will lead in time to better, less expensive care.

4. An EMR also allows medical
professionals to monitor a
patient’s progress and share
that information with others as
the situation demands -- and
allows the patient easy access,
him- or herself, via computer,
smartphone or tablet.
An EMR shows when a patient
is due for an examination or
screening. It can help identify
potential red flags.

5. In other words, it simplifies the entire process.
Important information is far less likely to fall through the
cracks, and the possibility of errors in caregiving is
minimized.

6. The human cost of such mistakes cannot be overstated.
According to one report, preventable medical errors are
the third-leading cause of death in the U.S.

7. That same report noted that at Seattle’s Virginia Mason Medical
Center, checkbox options nearly eliminated confusing or incorrect
physician orders overnight, and that nurses were able to ensure that
patients received the correct amount of medication by comparing a
barcode on the label of that medication with one affixed to the patient’s
wristband. Both methods, the report concluded, are now widely used.

8. A 2015 report in U.S. News and
World Report, citing a survey by
the National Partnership, noted
that 80 percent of adults with a
regular doctor said their health-
care provider used an electronic
system, up from 64 percent in
2011.
The same survey found that
one-third of the patients
whose doctor did not offer
such a service were
considering switching to one
who did.

9. Besides improved safety and communication, other potential
benefits of EMRs, according to the National Partnership study,
were improved patient engagement -- i.e., patients were more
likely to take an active role in ensuring good health -- as well as
improved community-wide health.

10. There is also the potential for cost reduction, since easy access to
(and sharing of) records allows for speedier care. It’s also less likely
that an expensive tests like a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) will
be repeated.

11. The onset of EMRs has not been without glitches. One report
noted that such things as physicians’ lack of experience with (and
anxiety over) computers affected their implementation.

12. Another flatly stated that EMRs aren’t working, because physicians
were forced to devote more time to record-keeping than patient care
-- that, in fact, it was leading to burnout on the part of healthcare
providers.

13. It is
nonetheless
clear that
EMRs are
here to
stay.

14. T O R E A D F U L L A R T I C L E ,
V I S I T O U R W E B S I T E
W W W . A L L U R E C A R E . C O M
A N D C O N N E C T W I T H U S O N S O C I A L M E D I A !