How To Select Electronic Medical Records Software

Are you considering an investment in electronic medical records software? Or maybe you have an old system or one that isn’t working for you and you would like to make a change. Whatever the case may be, you need to make an informed decision when selecting electronic medical records software.

Many hospitals and medical practitioners in the US and indeed around the world are still using paper based records. If you are in this category of persons who still need some convincing to shift to digital records, consider the following points:

• Storage costs – the cost of storing paper records is very high compared to electronic medical records. Physical records require vast amounts of space which can be very expensive especially in large cities. Even when stored in a remote location to save on space, one still has to factor in transportation when the records are required for review. It therefore makes a lot of economic sense to digitize all your medical records.
• Errors – hand written medical records are susceptible to errors. When end users cannot ‘decipher’ what the doctor has scribbled, the end result is usually wrong prescriptions as well as other serious errors and omissions with serious legal consequences.
• Efficiency – electronic medical records are easily accessible from anywhere in the world. Once digitized and stored in a central server, you can access the records from anywhere in the world using an Internet enabled device and verifying security protocols. Everyone in the medical practice or hospital can access a patient’s records in lighting fast speed. This fast accessibility and portability improves the overall efficiency of the practice/organization. In some studies, EMR software has been shown to improve overall efficiency by as much as 40%.

So, now that you understand the importance of EMR software, what should you consider before signing a cheque. Ask the vendor whether the system they are selling has the following features:

• Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) compliant
• Event monitoring capability
• ACID compliant relational database
• Scalability

If you don’t understand any of the terms above, just look them up in WikiPedia and you should have a pretty good understanding of what each point entails.

In addition to the above points, you must also consider:

• How long the vendor has been in business. Ask to see a portfolio and call a few clients to find out if they are satisfied.
• The cost of the electronic medical records software. The cost should NEVER be your only consideration; you must consider the cost in relation to all the other features of the software

Find out more about electronic medical records software and medical billing services.