Today, more and more physician offices and hospitals have digitized their medical records by implementing Electronic Medical Records or Electronic Health Records. Is there any difference between the two?
The Difference Between and Electronic Medical Record and an Electronic Health Record
Electronic Medical Record
Often, folks in the health care industry use the term electronic medical record (EMR) and electronic health record interchangeably. Technically, this is incorrect. The electronic medical record is usually practice restricted; to send providers outside of the practice a copy of the record printing it is often necessary. Even so, advantages of an EMR include:
- The ability to track data over time
- Allows caregivers to Identify patients due for preventative visits and screenings
- Provides for monitoring of patients for items such as blood pressure readings and vaccinations
These and other features make an electronic medical record far more beneficial than a paper one.
Electronic Health Record
However, when providers use an electronic health record (EHR) there are more benefits. An electronic health record has uses beyond storing and tracking data. By design, they can share patient information with all caregivers concerned with a particular patient. The data in an EHR are consulted, managed, and created by any authorized provider from more than a single health care organization. Perhaps the greatest advantage is that the electronic health record is portable and moves with the patient. For efficiency, tracking, and identification purposes, it makes sense that the EHR is of much higher value to providers than the EMR. The Electronic Health Record has one other very significant use that is not part of an electronic medical record; it is a clinical decision support system.
What Is Clinical Decision Support?
The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society a clinical decision support (CDDS) system is part of an electronic health record.
“It is process for enhancing health-related decisions and actions with pertinent, organized clinical knowledge and patient information to improve health and healthcare delivery. Information recipients can include patients, clinicians and others involved in patient care delivery; information delivered can include general clinical knowledge and guidance, intelligently processed patient data, or a mixture of both; and information delivery formats can be drawn from a rich palette of options that includes data and order entry facilitators, filtered data displays, reference information, alerts, and others.”
That very long sentence simply means that caregivers can rely on the information in the EHR to offer suggestions on the care of a patient based on the data contained in electronic health record that compares to data based on symptoms, medications and procedures, held in a database to cross-reference with the patient’s data. The information in the database offers guidance on the continuing care of the patient – of course, the caregiver always makes the final decision.
An added benefit of a CDSS is the ability to alert providers to allergies or other counter indications such as interactions for drug prescriptions.
According to Fierce HealthIT, an online healthcare IT site, a research study found that Clinical Decision Support Systems have the best ROI than any other feature in an electronic health record. Another survey conducted by Black Book Rankings found that the highest priority among hospital administrators planning to acquire electronic health records that the most important aspect of the EHR is the clinical decision support it offers.
RevenueXL's EHR Solution
RevenueXL Electronic Health Records solution offers more than a clinical decision support system capability. Other major features of the RevenueXL EHR software include:
- CCHIT Certified EHR System
- ONC-ATCB certified supporting meaningful use complete EHR
- Client/Server or Web-based options for your Electronic Health Records software
- Complete library of customizable templates
- Adaptive learning platform for your medical specialty
- Specialty based E&M Coding Assistance
- Diagnoses and CPT Codes for your specialty
- eRx (ePrescription)
- Lab Interface (Quest, LabCorp, etc.)
- Medical Billing Software Interface
- Varied clinical documentation methods including speech recognition and hand writing recognition
- Appointment Scheduler and Reminders
- Seamless integration with mobile devices including tablet PC’s
- Scalable from single-physician practices to large groups with multiple locations
- Supports all major medical specialties
- Complete clinical process automation
Call us today at 888-461-9998 and schedule a free demonstration of the affordable RevenueXL electronic health record.
