Medical Practices Use Free EMR Systems to Guard against Disaster
It doesn't
take a hurricane or earthquake to cripple operations in a doctor's office.
Sometimes an incident which would be an inconvenience to another business would
be a major catastrophe to a medical practice.
Small Disasters with Big
Consequences:
Information
is critical to proper medical care. No matter how familiar a doctor is with a
particular patient, it's always possible to forget some small detail such as a
drug allergy. That omission could threaten a patients safety. This is why it
is so important for doctors to have access to patient records.
There are
many reasons a doctor could be unable to get into his office. A storm blows a
tree over and blocks access to the parking lot. A leak forces closure until
inspector ensures the building is safe. With traditional paper records, the
doctor is unable to reach critical patient information if the patient has an
emergency during this time. A free EMR system prevents these incidents from
blocking or destroying information.
Maintain Full Accessibility
With a free
EMR system, a doctor or other authorized user has access to patient records
from outside the office. Even if physical access to the office is blocked, the
doctor can still examine information from any other computer with the EMR
software installed on it. Many physicians enable access to their office records
from home so they can immediately respond if a patient is in a medical
emergency.
Although
free EMR allows full access, it doesn't allow unrestricted access. EMR systems
include strict security measures to prevent unauthorized entry into the system.
Doctors can be confident they are observing all privacy regulations while
retaining the ability to examine patient records from any location. EMR
provides the best blend of accessibility and security.
Preserve Data Integrity:
Medical
practices must also protect the data itself from destruction. A ruptured pipe,
small fire or other incident could destroy all paper records in an office. Even
electronic medical records could be destroyed, but free EMR offers the
advantage of easy backup.
It is
difficult, expensive and time consuming to make copies of paper records and
store them off site. On the other hand, backing up free EMR databases is
simple, often included as part of the software function. These backups can be
small enough to put on a pocket USB drive and easily transported to another
location for safety. The data can also be backed up online so a practice can
restore it from anywhere.
The
importance of retaining 24/7 access to and protecting the integrity of medical
records means it is nearly impossible for a medical practice to operate without
some kind of EMR system. Since most practices don't need CCHIT certified
software, free EMR systems offer an inexpensive solution to a practice's data
needs.
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