Electronic Medical Records First Student

Electronic Medical Records

First student

I think your response brings to light an important point: There is profound emotional resistance to shifting over to electronic record-keeping. Logically speaking, there is no reason why paper records cannot be damaged: paper can be destroyed in a flood or misplaced; messy handwriting can be inaccurately transposed from one set of records to another and a single copy of a file can be stolen or lost. Yet there is still tremendous fear about electronic record-keeping simply because it is a change in technology and it subjectively 'feels' less secure, because it is new. Although some institutions may indeed face 'financial barriers' at first in shifting to electronic records, the cost of inaccurate charts is surely far greater, in terms of patient health. The worry that doctors will become more 'computerized' in their attitude through the implementation of online record-keeping also reflects emotional rather than practical resistance to the new technology. Certainly, all of us have met doctors who only stare at a paper chart! The problem is with such doctors' interpersonal skills, not the new technology

More and more people are moving around the country, and have haphazard medical records. Having an understanding of a patient's health history is essential, and generalized databases of medical records would make this possible. If a patient is in an accident in another state (hardly an inconceivable occurrence), as you point out, knowing that a patient is a diabetic, allergic to penicillin, or has Type O blood could save his or her life.

While the ideal type of universal system is still a 'work in progress' as electronic record-keeping becomes more common, the systems that evolve will improve. Greater homogeneity between institutions EMR programs will facilitate accuracy and the ability to read the charts quickly.

Second Student

I agree that the most serious problem with electronic medical record-keeping is the cut and paste dilemma. Repetition and cutting and pasting of notes by physicians can be extremely problematic, and cause inaccuracies to be passed on from record to record. But this problem can also occur with paper records.

In terms of the financial barriers, it is important to note that any shift to safer and more effective technology comes at a cost to the physician, and this is, to some extent, one of the 'hazards' of doing business. Shifting to more sanitary procedures, using machines that are less risky in terms of disseminating radiation, and other changes in medical technology have all been expensive, yet deemed necessary because of the resultant improvements in patient health. The same is true regarding medical record-keeping. Patient health and keeping accurate records must be the priority.