In the near future, an electronic medical record of an outpatient patient can greatly facilitate the work of clinic personnel. Paper options will gradually begin to go into oblivion.
About what is an electronic medical record
It represents a promising direction in the development of outpatient care. The fact is that both patients and almost all clinic staff suffer from the abundance of paper cards and their shortcomings. An electronic medical record is created for the convenience of the former and the facilitation of the labor of the latter. In addition, it greatly simplifies the activities of statistics and the organizational and methodological department of any treatment and prevention center.
In this case, the electronic medical record of the patient is able to include all the information that its paper version.
How it works?
Currently, all medical institutions are trying to be as computerized as possible. Including a high-quality electronic medical record has already been developed. It allows you to significantly simplify the work of clinic staff and the lives of patients themselves.
An electronic medical record is simple enough. It is enclosed in an electronic file cabinet, which is part of a single program for the workstation of a specialist. In order to get access to a particular card, a doctor or a nurse just needs to type the patient’s last name, first name and patronymic in the search bar. In the event that the program gives out several names (when there are several patients with the same name), the user is guided by the year of birth and the person's address. In the card, if it has already been filled, you can find a large amount of information regarding this particular patient. Moreover, there you can quickly track the dynamics of visits by a person to a doctor. Naturally, there is an opportunity to get acquainted with all the diagnoses that were made to the patient.
It is worth noting that even the most modern electronic medical record of an outpatient would not make sense if it were not part of the program, which combines all the computers of medical specialists working in a medical institution. As a result, when the surgeon fills out the diary in digital form, the general practitioner, gynecologist and any other doctor of the clinic can get acquainted with his final conclusion in real time. That is, the program has a single base.
Why was an electronic card created?
It became a necessity as a result of the general computerization of society. The creation of an electronic medical record has been conceived for quite some time. Everyone is already very tired of working with paper documents, which have a huge number of shortcomings. In addition, a single electronic medical record can significantly simplify the activities of hospitals, because they now have the opportunity to request information about the patient who has received treatment for them in digital form. This greatly simplifies the work, as doctors do not need to find out exactly what a person was sick for their lives.
The advantages of electronic cards over paper
It should be noted that she really has a large number of advantages. First of all, such a card will not be lost and will not be taken home by the patient. As a result, all information is stored in the clinic.
Another advantage is the lack of the need to search for a card and its further transfer by the registry to one or another doctor. All the necessary information is already on his computer.
Naturally, the big plus of electronic medical records is the lack of the need to constantly stick there additional sheets, advisory opinions, as well as forms with test results. All information of this type is entered in special sections of the program, which provides all the necessary data on the first request from the doctor.
The electronic medical record also characterizes itself very positively for the reason that it allows several specialists of the clinic to get acquainted with their contents at once. Moreover, they are able not only to read it, but also to fill it. As a result, the activities of medical personnel are significantly optimized.
Disadvantages of electronic cards
Like any invention, this also has some disadvantages. First of all, it should be noted that in the event of a power outage, the electronic medical record will become completely inaccessible for viewing.
Another drawback is the fact that hackers can steal valuable information. In addition, the electronic medical record can be completely destroyed in the event that something happens with the computer on which the databases are located.
A noticeable minus of such documentation is also the need for training personnel to work with it. While young doctors and nurses quickly learn new technologies, especially those related to computers, older employees experience serious difficulties in using any innovations, especially those related to working with computer technology.
The main problems of the universal introduction of electronic cards
In addition to difficulties with staff training, there are others. This is primarily about the need to computerize the jobs of all doctors and a fair portion of nurses. For this, the management of the medical institution will have to spend a significant amount of money. Though not as fast as we would like, but this difficulty is being solved.
A much bigger problem after the electronic medical record is introduced legally in the form of the main document for medical institutions, will be the transfer of information from paper to electronic. It is not yet clear who exactly will do this. The doctor does not have enough time to maintain an electronic medical record, and, of course, he will not engage in the digitization of documentation. As for nurses, and even more so receptionists, for the correct and high-quality introduction of complete information, they simply do not have the appropriate knowledge. Naturally, no one will hire additional employees. Most likely, the problem will be solved by parallel maintenance of both electronic and paper documentation over several years. Moreover, this approach will again create big problems for local doctors and nurses. So before you create an electronic medical record, you have to solve this problem.
Industry development prospects
An electronic medical record is created in such a way as to fully optimize the activities of medical institutions in the future. In the future, it can get such a serious development that the registry will become unnecessary. This will free up significant human resources. In the future, this will help to increase the staff of pre-medical rooms. The benefits from their introduction have already been felt by patients, and doctors with medical nurses, and even the administration.
There is another promising direction in which electronic medical records will be developed. How to get data from colleagues working not only in one medical institution, but also in all medical centers of the country? Of course, with the help of a universal unified electronic medical record. That is, in the future a unified database will be created that will unite all the medical institutions of the country into a network. As a result, information about the patient will not be lost, and the doctor, for the first time seeing a person and being thousands of kilometers from his attending physician, will be able to find out complete medical data about him in a matter of minutes. In addition, this circumstance will help to exclude some fraud with various kinds of medical documents.
Protection against equipment breakdowns
Currently, a serious problem remains the possibility of breaking down the computer on which the database is located with a full electronic card index of a particular clinic. A good solution is to periodically create backups of such a database with their placement on various computers. In the event that one electronic computing device breaks down and cannot be restored, another will be launched instead, and there will be no serious difficulties in the work of personnel with the software.
Another solution could be to place a backup copy of the database in various online repositories, however, such actions will greatly facilitate the process of obtaining information about patients by hackers, and this is unacceptable.
What is the benefit for the patient?
There are many positive aspects in creating electronic medical records for the patient himself. First of all, he can be sure that not a single piece of paper will disappear from his documentation. In addition, he will not have to wait long for the reception staff to deliver his medical card. In the near future, everything will be much simpler. The patient will only have to make an appointment with the doctor. Entering the clinic, he will need to present a document such as a paper or electronic health insurance card. After that, he will immediately be able to go to the specialist in need of consultation.
Another advantage for the patient is the fact that the information about which doctor he was receiving, what diagnoses were made to him, and also the results of his tests will not be available to the junior medical staff. The fact is that now ambulatory medical records are mostly located in the registry. Registrars work there. If desired, they have the opportunity to look at any card, both on their own interest, and at someone else’s request. In the future, they will not have such an opportunity.
When will the project be implemented?
In fact, when the patient’s unified electronic medical record was still under development, its full introduction, involving the complete stop of the circulation of paper documentation in clinics, was already a foregone conclusion. Unfortunately, this promising project is constantly encountering ever new obstacles of a different nature. Initially, the main problem was the material support of clinics. In the future, it was necessary to train staff. Now, a big obstacle is ensuring the program’s quick and smooth operation. In the near future, this problem will also be eliminated, and then there will be one, but the most serious obstacle - the digitization of paper medical records.
Economic bonuses
Despite the fact that the introduction of electronic documents into circulation requires significant costs in the first stages, then it will help to save a lot more money. The fact is that each medical institution spends enormous amounts of money every year on the purchase of various paper products. With the introduction of a fully electronic system, of course, energy costs will increase, but the savings will still be significant.
Single regulation
Now, certain measures are being taken to systematize the activities in the field of computerization of various medical centers. The fact is that currently there is not one version of electronic cards, but several. They are developed both by private organizations and on the basis of medical universities. By order of the Ministry of Health, a workstation program for doctors of various profiles was also created. As a result, now it is it that is recommended for use in treatment and prevention centers. This is necessary so that in the future there is the possibility of integrating all medical institutions into a single network. As a result, maintaining an electronic medical record of absolutely any person living in the country will become available for every doctor to whom he has come to see.