Benefits of Electronic Medical Records for Doctors
By: Julia Aidan
Submitted: 2011-04-11 03:01:36 | Word Count: 413
Many advantages are there for the doctors who use EMR. In addition electronic medical records lessen the need for reams of paper, but they also save a great deal of space. Most medical offices and hospitals have a large amount of space allocated to housing paper copies of medical records. However, all of this storage space could be freed up for patient care, expansion of services, and the like, with the addition of electronic medical records. Doctors benefit because they save money on buying paper, printers, ink, and related supplies, while they can save even more money by expanding into the area that used to house paper records rather than constructing a larger facility.
Another way doctor's benefit from electronic medical records is that they are able to better facilitate and coordinate care of their patients. When EMR are used then the duplication of tests is reduced significantly, cross checking prescriptions is improved, and doctors are able to evaluate how a patient is being treated by various doctors for an array of health conditions.
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Doctors also find they save a great deal of time using electronic medical records as opposed to paper records. Faxing and mailing copies are prevalent even today, but it is time consuming. When a doctor can get a patient's electronic medical records immediately then he/she is able to immediately see what tests have been carried out, what X-rays have been conducted, and any information pertaining to prescriptions, allergies, and other health information. Immediate treatment is undertaken if the patient's diagnosis is available in the EMR. This is also true for emergencies where the patient may be jeopardized and unable to talk or communicate.
The adoption of meaningful-use EMR software is expected to generate approximately $3.8 billion in 2015, with compound annual growth rate for total software spending in this arena at 11.5%. Separating down the total, Ambulatory EMR/EHR software expending by all types of providers was $633.5 million in 2009 and should grow to $1.4 billion by 2015. The spending of EMR and HER in 2009 was almost $1.3 billion and is expected to grow to $2.4 billion by 2015.
Physicians may also gain from using electronic medical records as they write prescriptions. There are many advantages of this software including correctly written prescription.
Author Resource:-EMR software helps improve medical practice efficiency and increase focus on patient care. EMR software systems are now considered a necessity by most doctors and hospitals.
