It has been almost three years since the initial implementation of an EMR (Electronic Medical Record) system in Kaiser Permanente, Southern California Region. This in line with the Federal Government's initiative to have the entire Health Care Industry to use EMR systems. There has been a lot of positives and of course the set backs in this implementation but for the author the concept can be said that EMR is indeed the new wave of tools that the Health Care Industry is going to use in order to more effectively treat patients.
A normal work flow using an EMR system during an outpatient visit would be in this order. A patient checks in at the front desk and this flags the nursing staff inside the clinic that the patient has arrived. The nurse brings the patient in and takes the vitals, verifies allergies and medications and any other patient concerns and inputs it in the system. If there are any alerts for upcoming tests that the patient needs to be done the system would flag the nursing staff or physician about the need for the said test. An example being a Mammogram, if the patient is female over 40 the system would check when was the last time the patient had the said procedure. If the patient has not had one done within the given time period for a mammogram test the system would now flag the nursing staff to let the patient know that they are due for the procedure and if they would want the procedure to be done at the visit or either scheduled in the immediate future.
Once the nursing staff is done with all the initial input of data required by the physician the patient can now be seen. The physician can view all the pertinent data that was entered. Also the physician has access to the patients electronic chart, which would allow the ability to look at all the previous lab results, problem lists, imaging orders, episodes of care, immunizations, and any important medical data instantly. In essence its acquiring the patients chart paper chart and viewing it through the computer as opposed to browsing through hordes of paper data.
The physician can now document on the computer and can order labs and RX or any form of procedures with the use of the computer and it can be transmitted to the performing unit immediately. This would of course eliminate the errors that may happen with the use of papers. Let's say for RX prescriptions if there are any allergies to a certain drug ingredient the system would flag the ordering user of the allergy and the potential side effects thus eliminating the risk of drug related emergencies.Also with this they can communicate with any other physicians within Kaiser in order to ask for their opinions about the patient's condition. As opposed to before where it would take a while to send to a specialist. Now it would transmit instantly and the specialist would receive a message in their Inbox attached with the patient's chart and results for their review and would then send a reply to the physician who needs their opinion.
There are a lot more things that the system can do but the author will not enumerate all the details. Now in terms of some of the drawbacks the number one thing that majority of the users have stated is the time for one to actually learn and be proficient in its use. It is not much of a problem for the younger group but with physicians and nursing staff who are almost at the height of their career and are a few years away from retirement. This is where the most resistance to change is prominent. Their stance being "we have been practicing medicine this way for so long, why would we want to change it".
The fact is change will always happen, that's the only other thing that is constant aside from death and taxes. In order to properly change with the times one must accept these changes gradually. We are now still in the early stages of EMR being a major push for the United States but it definitely will the wave change for an entire Industry plagued by criticism from a people who are demanding for change in the system