| In order to standardize and make all medical | | | | hard to do. |
| records available to hospital staff, colleagues and | | | | The newest security features to be added to |
| officials many health care institutions are | | | | computer systems are biometric identifiers. It |
| computerizing their records and switching to an | | | | almost sounds like science fiction, but it is |
| electronic medical records system. However, | | | | becoming more and more common to use things |
| these systems are not universally accepted and | | | | like fingerprints, eye scans and voice prints in |
| the advantages and disadvantages are under | | | | security systems. |
| debate by the medical community. | | | | The dream of the paperless work environment is |
| The idea behind electronic health records is to | | | | a definite benefit of having an electronic medical |
| have a computer-based history of a patient's | | | | records system. Administrative staff are freed up |
| clinical and administrative details. This will include | | | | from spending time managing files and having to |
| every document made by each doctor that was | | | | make copies of records and so on. The drawback |
| ever involved with the patient's medical history. | | | | is that now the doctors need some kind of |
| The big benefit of this computerization is that it is | | | | portable device to access record when consulting |
| easy for a new doctor to pull a patient's history, | | | | with patients. |
| even from one hospital to another. On the flipside | | | | A benefit of electronic systems is data accuracy. |
| is the ever-present possibility of invasion of | | | | In a well designed software system, many data |
| privacy. | | | | entry fields will be checked for valid entries. With |
| Different care providers in the medical community | | | | information being entered in a standardized way, |
| may have different protocols in treating some | | | | the software can also be programmed to alert |
| conditions, and these differences may not be able | | | | doctors about certain conditions for a patient, like |
| to reflect in a shared medical record. | | | | allergies to drugs, drug interactions or medication |
| The issue with all computerized systems is | | | | errors. This kind of sophisticated software makes |
| security. Software developers in the EMR industry | | | | it possible for the pharmacy, doctor and nurse to |
| are taking steps to improve security by adding | | | | interact in a whole new way. |
| features like username and password | | | | The debate about electronic medical record |
| requirements. However, for the determined and | | | | system may continue, but it is an almost |
| experienced computer hacker, breaking a | | | | inevitable fact of life for the future of the medical |
| username and password combination is not too | | | | community. |