An electronic medical record of an outpatient can greatly facilitate the work of polyclinic staff in the near future. Paper options will gradually begin to fade into oblivion.
What is an electronic he alth record
It is a promising direction in the development of outpatient medical care. The fact is that both patients and almost all employees of polyclinics suffer from the abundance of paper cards and their shortcomings. An electronic medical record was created for the convenience of the first and to facilitate the work of the second. In addition, it greatly simplifies the activities of the statistics and organizational and methodological department of any treatment and prevention center.
At the same time, the electronic medical record of the patient is able to include all the information that its paper version does.
How does it work?
Currently, all medical institutions are trying to computerize as much as possible. Including a high-quality electronic medical record has already been developed. It allows you to significantly simplify the work of clinic staff and the lives of themselves.patients.
Medical record in electronic form is quite simple. It is enclosed in an electronic filing cabinet, which is part of a single program of an automated workplace of a particular specialist. In order to access a particular card, a doctor or a nurse, it is enough just to type the patient's last name, first name and patronymic in the search bar. In the event that the program gives out several names (when there are several patients with the same full name), then the user is already guided by the year of birth and the address of the person's residence. In the card, if it has already been filled out, you can find a large amount of information related to this particular patient. At the same time, there you can quickly trace the dynamics of visits by a person to a particular doctor. Naturally, there is also an opportunity to get acquainted with all the diagnoses that were made to the patient.
It is worth noting that even the most modern electronic medical record of an outpatient would not make sense if it were not part of a program that integrates all the computers of medical specialists working in a medical institution. As a result, when a surgeon fills in a diary in digital form, the therapist, gynecologist and any other doctor of the polyclinic can get acquainted with its final conclusion in real time. That is, the program has a single base.
Why was the e-card created?
She has become a necessity foras a result of the general computerization of society. The creation of an electronic medical record has been conceived for a long time. Everyone is already very tired of working with paper documents, which have a huge number of shortcomings. In addition, a single electronic medical record makes it possible to significantly simplify the activities of hospitals, because they now have the opportunity to request information about a patient admitted to them for treatment in digital form. This greatly simplifies the work, since doctors do not need to find out what exactly a person was ill with in his life.
Advantages of an electronic card over a paper one
It should be noted that she really has a large number of pluses. First of all, such a card will not be lost and will not be taken home by the patient. As a result, all information is stored in the clinic.
Another advantage is the absence of the need to search for a card and its further transfer by the registry to one or another doctor. All the necessary information is already on his computer.
Naturally, a big plus of electronic medical records is the absence of the need to constantly paste additional sheets, advisory opinions, and forms with test results there. All information of this type is entered into special sections of the program, which provides all the necessary data at the first request from the doctor.
The electronic medical record also characterizes itself very positively for the reason that it allows you to get acquainted with yourthe content of several clinic specialists at once. At the same time, they are able not only to read it, but also to fill it out. As a result, the activities of medical personnel are significantly optimized.
Disadvantages of electronic cards
Like any invention, it also has some downsides. First of all, it should be noted that in the event of a power outage, the electronic medical record will become completely inaccessible for viewing.
Another disadvantage is the fact that hackers can steal valuable information. In addition, an electronic medical record can be completely destroyed if something happens to the computer on which the databases are located.
A noticeable disadvantage of such documentation is the need to train staff to work with it. If young doctors and nurses quickly master new technologies, especially those related to computers, then older employees experience serious difficulties in using any innovations, especially those related to working with computers.
The main problems of the universal introduction of electronic cards
In addition to the difficulties with staff training, there are others. First of all, we are talking about the need to computerize the workplaces of all doctors and a fair amount of nurses. For this, the management of the medical institution will have to spend a significant amount of money. May not be so fastpace, as we would like, but this difficulty is being solved.
A much bigger problem after the electronic medical record is introduced by law as the main document for medical institutions will be the transfer of information from paper to electronic. So far, it is not clear who exactly will do this. The doctor does not have enough time to maintain an electronic medical record, and, of course, he will not deal with the digitization of documentation. As for nurses, and especially registry workers, they simply do not have the appropriate knowledge for the correct and high-quality introduction of complete information. Naturally, no one will hire additional employees. Most likely, the problem will be solved by maintaining both electronic and paper records in parallel for several years. At the same time, this approach will again create big problems for doctors and nurses in the field. So before you can create an electronic he alth record, you have to solve this problem.
Industry outlook
An electronic medical record is created in such a way as to fully optimize the activities of medical institutions in the future. In the future, it may get such a serious development that the registry will not be needed. This will free up significant human resources. In the future, this will help increase the staff of pre-medical offices. The benefits of their introduction have already been experienced by both patients anddoctors with nurses, and even the administration.
There is another promising direction in which the electronic medical record will develop. How to get data from colleagues working not only in one medical institution, but also in all medical centers of the country? Of course, with the help of a universal unified electronic medical record. That is, in the future, a single database will be created that will unite all medical institutions in the country into a network. As a result, information about the patient will not be lost, and the doctor, seeing a person for the first time and being thousands of kilometers from his attending physician, will be able to find out full-fledged medical data about him in a matter of minutes. In addition, this circumstance will help to exclude some fraud with various kinds of medical documents.
Protection against equipment breakdowns
Currently, a serious problem is the possibility of a computer failure, which houses a database with a complete electronic file of a particular clinic. A good solution is to periodically create backup copies of such a database and place them on different computers. In the event that one electronic computing device breaks down and cannot be restored, another one will be launched instead, and there will be no serious difficulties in the work of personnel with the software.
Another solution would be to place a backup copy of the database in various online storages, however, such actionswill greatly facilitate the process of obtaining information about patients by hackers, and this is unacceptable.
What is the benefit for the patient?
There are many positive aspects in the creation of electronic medical records for the patient himself. First of all, he can be sure that not a single piece of paper will be lost from his documentation. In addition, he will not have to wait long for the registry staff to deliver his medical card. In the near future, everything will be much easier. The patient will only have to make an appointment with the doctor. Upon entering the clinic, he will need to present a document such as a paper or electronic he alth insurance card. After that, he will immediately be able to go to the specialist whose consultation he needs.
Another advantage for the patient is the fact that information about which doctor he saw, what diagnoses he received, and the results of his tests will not be available to junior medical staff. The fact is that now outpatient medical records are mostly located in the registry. There are registrars. If desired, they have the opportunity to look at any map, both of their own interest and at someone else's request. They won't have that opportunity in the future.
When will the project be implemented?
In fact, when the unified electronic medical record of the patient was still under development, its full-fledged introduction, involving a complete stopthe circulation of paper records in clinics has already been a foregone conclusion. Unfortunately, this promising project constantly encounters new obstacles of a different nature. Initially, the main problem was the material support of polyclinics. The next step was to train the staff. Now, the big hurdle is to ensure that the program runs quickly and smoothly. In the near future, this problem will also be eliminated, and then there will be one, but the most serious obstacle - the digitization of paper medical records.
Economic bonuses
Despite the fact that the introduction of electronic documents into circulation requires significant costs in the early stages, then it will help save much more money. The fact is that each medical institution spends huge amounts of money every year on the purchase of various paper products. With the introduction of a fully electronic system, of course, energy costs will increase, but the savings will still be significant.
Single regulation
Currently, certain measures are being taken to systematize the activities in the field of computerization of various medical centers. The fact is that at present there is not one version of electronic cards, but several. They are developed both by private organizations and on the basis of medical universities. By order of the Ministry of He alth, an automated workplace program for doctors of various profiles was also created. As a result, now it is she who is recommended for use in therapeutic and prophylacticcenters. This is necessary so that in the future it will be possible to integrate all medical institutions into a single network. As a result, the maintenance of an electronic medical record of absolutely any person living in the country will become available for every doctor he comes to see.
