Electronic Health Records Technology

The systematic collection of patient’s health information that can be generated by one or more medical encounters from one or different healthcare facility is the idea for Electronic Health Records (EHR) or Electronic Patient’s Record (EPR) or computerized patient record.

As technology continues to improve our daily living, it has been able to transform many things such as our means of communication, transportation, and living. One technology that is now helping the medical industry is the electronic health record. It has improved the way information is communicated in the medical facility that helps leverages how patient care is provided. The EHR system does not only provide better ways of storing, accessing and communicating information but it also provides privacy and security for the patient.

Because of the EHR system, jobs and tasks for medical coders and billers and/or medical records and health information personnel is now easier. But that doesn’t mean there is no longer need for workers in the health information industry or that the technology is going to replace them. 

According to the occupational outlook handbook from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Employment of medical records and health information technicians is expected to increase by 21 percent from 2010 to 2020, faster than the average for all occupations. The demand for health services is expected to increase as the population ages. An aging population will need more medical tests, treatments, and procedures. This will also mean more claims for reimbursement from private and public insurance. Additional records, coupled with widespread use of electronic health records by all types of healthcare providers, should lead to an increased need for technicians to organize and manage the associated information in all areas of the healthcare industry”

Benefits of electronic health record include:

•  Accurate information on patient’s health
•  Improved coordination of care/medicine required for the patient
•  Security and privacy of patient information
•  Easier access to the data
•  Better communication of patient’s data between two or more healthcare facility
•  Reduction of operation costs
•  Environmentally friendly (paperless)

If you are planning to take advantage of this new technology by starting a career in the healthcare industry, you can work with career training providers such as Meditec school to get you the training you need for the field.