What is the Value of Computerized Medical Records for Patient Care? ‘Computerized Medical Health Record’ is a form of digital recording systems of patients’ health records which is widely practiced in the current healthcare industry. This recording system is a commonly used technique to store, access and retrieve the key healthcare information of patients. Moreover, the electronic health records of patients’ are of significant value in the healthcare industry, as it eliminates numerous challenges associated with traditional system. Rozenbluma et al., (2013) noted that the availability of computerized medical health record helps in timely and easy access and retrieval of patients’ information from anywhere, remote, or across a communications network. In this regard, it is claimed that computerized medical health records reduce the costs as well as the time associated with maintaining paper records (Rozenbluma et al., 2013). In addition, it is claimed that computerized medical records streamline workflow process, promotes the quality of patients’ care as well as patients’ safety (GE Healthcare, 2011. Rosen, 2010). Caffrey & Park-Lee, (2013) propagated that computerized medical records provide a significant advantage in the overall “implementation and evaluation processes” of patient health, which is the major pitfall in the traditional system (Caffrey & Park-Lee, 2013). In addition, computerized medical records are advocated to ensure more reliable and complete medical records, which in turn increases the reliability of health care delivered to the patients. Besides, data that are stored in the form of computerized medical records can be retrieved quickly, which further supports the clinical decision making. Precisely stating, the benefits associated with computerized medical records are argued to be substantial to patients, clinic practices, physicians and health care service providers in the current health care industry (Healthcare IT News, 2005. Wang et al., 2003).

References

Caffrey, C., & Park-Lee, E. (2013). Use of electronic health records in residential care communities. NCHS, (128), 1-7.

GE Healthcare. (2011). Computerized medical records. Retrieved from http://www.gehealthcare.com/centricityadvance/computerized-medical-records.html

Healthcare IT News. (2005). Peter Basch on incomplete medical records. Retrieved from http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/peter-basch-incomplete-medical-records

Rosen, A. K. (2010). Are we getting better at measuring patient safety? Retrieved from http://webmm.ahrq.gov/perspective.aspx?perspectiveID=94

Rozenbluma, R., Donzé, J., Hockey, P. M., Guzdar, E., Labuzettaa, M. A., Zimlichmana, E., & Batesa, D. W. (2013). The impact of medical informatics on patient satisfaction: A USA-based literature review. International Journal of Medical Informatics, 82(3), 141-158.

Wang, S. J., Middleton, B., Prosser, L. A., Bardon, C. G., Spurr, C. D., Carchidi, P. J., Kittler, A. F., Goldszer, R. C., Fairchild, D. J., Sussman, A. J., Kuperman, G. J., & Bates, D. W. (2003). A cost-benefit analysis of electronic medical records in primary care. The American Journal of Medicine, 114, 397-403.