Are you considering investing in EHR integration but you need to know more? Read this article to get the information you need.
It’s 2020, and it seems like everything is digitally interconnected these days. We do everything online, and tech giants like Google and Facebook allow us to keep our digital lives connected from platform to platform.
As one of the most professional and highly regulated fields, medical offices are integrated and online then, right? Think again.
Hospitals and doctors’ offices are lagging behind with EHR integration, and it’s about time they catch up. Electronic health and medical record integration services are a growing field, and for good reason. Take a look at these ten facts about integrated EHR.
- EHR Integration Is Part of a Booming Field
EHR integration is rising in popularity, but it’s just one part of a much larger trend. The digital health market is expected to be worth over $600 billion by 2026. This figure could grow even higher if the pandemic worsens.
- Integrating Medical Records Saves Lives
Misdiagnosis and care mistakes that lead to avoidable harm and death are all too common in the medical field. One reason trouble happens is that there are gaps in patients’ records.
A patient admitted to the ER at a hospital they’ve never been to might not be able to tell doctors about their penicillin allergy with a disconnected EHR system. Integrated EHR between hospital networks can fill in these gaps and save lives.
Another way that EMR integration can help save lives is by pointing out risk factors for common conditions and possible ways to counteract them.
- Integrating EMRs Can Help Flatten the Curve
Because EMR integration closes gaps in care, it has a particular advantage in the time of COVID-19. Aggregated information and data analytics can pinpoint missed vaccinations and other weak spots to better control the ongoing pandemic.
Just like EMR integration can alert to risk factors for heart disease, diabetes, and other ailments, it can also point out patients who are at risk for COVID-19. This important information can keep doctors on high alert for signs of the virus, and enable them to better advise their patients of activities to avoid.
- Integrated EHR Using AI Provides Better Care
While the majority of doctors have their patients’ best interests in mind and will do all they can to find workable solutions for patients’ problems, even the best doctors are only human.
No person can think of every single solution to a medical problem. Integrated EHR with AI that keeps track of available remedies allows doctors to rest easy knowing that they’re aware of every treatment out there.
- EMR Integration Solutions as Personal Assistants
The recent shift to telehealth services put many providers in uncharted waters. Without all of the usual equipment and staff available to them, some practitioners struggle to achieve the same quality of care and documentation that they typically give.
An AI EHR integration system, DeepScribe is a HIPAA-compliant tool that lets healthcare workers do their work without worrying about taking notes. Instead, the system itself does the work. Read more now about this groundbreaking new tool.
- Integration Is Way Too Far Behind
When you hear that healthcare systems are lagging behind in EHR integration, what percentage of systems do you believe are integrated? 80%, 75%? Believe it or not, as recently as 2014, under 50% of health systems were integrating patient information.
While this number has surely risen even though recent figures are not widely available, that shocking revelation means that there’s still a long way to go. Your medical office adopting EHR integration is a big step forward.
- Integrating EMRs Can Create Jobs
The economy is struggling, and healthcare is one rare field that’s not at risk of being eliminated. In fact, healthcare professionals are needed in many areas, and the industry is creating jobs.
One way the healthcare industry can create even more jobs is through wider adoption of EMR integration.
Some systems are lagging behind in integration because they haven’t been able to devote the resources to get the job done. For healthcare systems that aren’t struggling financially, the current shift to online medicine is the perfect time to make new hires and work towards full integration.
- Integration Works in Real-Time
Disconnected medical records create lags, and every moment counts in many medical situations. Real-time information transfer through integration solutions can provide practitioners with test results and other valuable information as soon as it’s available.
Faster, more reliable information transfer helps practitioners provide more timely and reliable care.
- Integration Is Secure
The more disconnected a patient’s medical record is, the more opportunities there are for data breaches and corruption. With an integrated medical record system, weak spots are eliminated and information is organized for consistency.
Plus, as advanced health technology, EMR integration systems are aware of modern digital security risks and protect patient safety infinitely more than outdated software and paper records possibly can.
- EMR Integration Promotes Modern Medicine
Healthcare advances at a rapid pace, and it’s common for medical systems to have outdated terminology and diagnostic codes. These inconsistencies can lead to care complications and create problems for patients and practitioners alike.
With an integrated EMR system connected to all of the latest advances and updates in medical care and coding, clinics can modernize and make good on their claims of quality care.
What Else Could You Learn?
Now that you’ve read these ten fascinating facts about EHR integration, are you ready to fill your mind with more information you never imagined learning? Do you care about your personal energy and potential, not just about day to day concerns?
If you’re bored of the same old news and lifestyle articles and want to try reading something truly eye-opening, take a look at the other articles on our site.
A professional writer with over a decade of incessant writing skills. Her topics of interest and expertise range from health, nutrition and psychology.