Pros And Cons Of EHR

Introduction The transition from hardcopy health records to electronic health records (EHR) creates a need for new protocols to protect patient data. “Health Insurance and Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to adopt standards for electronic medical transaction,” these standards are to protect patient health records. The standards three main focuses are; 1) “to protect and enhance the rights of consumers by providing them access to their health information and controlling the inappropriate use of that information…2) to improve the quality of care…by restoring the trust in the health care system… 3) improve the efficiency and effectiveness of health care delivery by creating a national framework for health privacy protection.” The task of enforcing these fell to the HHS Office of Civil Right since privacy is a human right. Most agree that electronic health records are very helpful; they reduce cost, inaccuracy, and increase efficiency. As always with new innovations there are pros and cons. EHR create a new risk to the …show more content…
EHR can bridge the gaps between multiple health care providers of a single patient. Bridging that gap could improve care exponentially. Often when a patients is referred to a specialist, the patients is responsible for the cost of duplicate diagnostic testing or lengthy wait times for medical records to deliver hard copies. With EHRs the specialist could view the previous test results on the computer and have the ability to read the notes from the primary care physician instead of relying on the patient to remember what was said to them or to bring the hardcopy themselves. In that scenario alone the patient did not have to spend money on extra scans or waste time and communication between the two doctors could potentially be seamless (Steward