The Impact of Electronic Medical Records on Improvement of Health Care Delivery

Abstract

To The Editor: There is an increasing need to incorporate the use of electronic medical records EMR in our healthcare delivery. The advancement in information technology and its impact in all sectors including healthcare has accelerated this need amidst the ever growing challenges facing healthcare today. These challenges include; reducing preventable errors, improving communication among health care providers and facilities, and controlling the cost of medical care. I may argue that employing an electronic medical record system may be the one solution that will addresses all of these issues. The literature shows that Innovations in electronic record keeping have dramatically improved communication and patient safety without increasing costs. This system may be for recording all clinical and administrative patient information, including laboratory results, pharmacy orders, radiology and medical graphs, electrocardiograms, nursing and physician notes, and order entry. It organizes and presents all relevant data about a patient that clinicians need to support clinical decision making at the point of care. It may also include Bar Code Medication Administration system that uses wireless point-of-care technology with a bar-code scanner. Such system can dramatically reduce administration errors by validating medications and verifying patient identity. I have come to realize and appreciate the benefits of using the electronic record system during my fellowship and employment with the Veterans Administration health system. The VA's electronic health record system has largely eliminated errors stemming from lost medical records. Outside the VA system, one in every seven hospital admissions is caused by the lack of a medical record (insufficient information at the point of care) and 20% of all lab tests are repeated because the health care provider can't access the results. With its electronic medical record system, the VA has set the national benchmark in quality of