Over the past few centuries, technology has developed more and more, and there is almost no industry where information technology is not involved. The medical industry has also come along with the technology revolution, and we are now able to cure diseases that were previously considered deadly. There is still one thing that hasn’t changed over the last 50 years in the medical area: the way in which the medical records are kept. The EMR (electronic medical record) was created a few years ago, but its implementation in hospitals and on a national scale seems rather distant for many reasons.
First of all, the EMR should contain all the patients’ medical data, and introducing what was previously on paper is not as simple as it might seem. As everyone knows, handwriting is not always legible, so it’s hard to transfer data from paper into EMR. On the other hand, statistics say that in a couple of decades, when all individuals have had their records written with electronic support, this will not be a problem. There are other issues regarding EMR that come up, though, such as privacy. The fact that the EMR offers access to data from different locations, namely hospitals and by doctors, and the data is managed by both IT and medical specialists, leaves doors open to unwanted hackers.
Some specialists fear that the confidentiality of personal data might be at risk, and that the patients won’t have the same privacy that they used to. Some people also believe the EMR has technology limitations, and such an amount of data would require too much space. The maintenance procedures also have to be considered, and any action that could damage the viability of the data must be prevented. Aside from the few disadvantages, though, the EMR software has even more advantages, and it will probably only take a few more years until it will be fully implemented on a national scale.
First of all, the EMR should contain all the patients’ medical data, and introducing what was previously on paper is not as simple as it might seem. As everyone knows, handwriting is not always legible, so it’s hard to transfer data from paper into EMR. On the other hand, statistics say that in a couple of decades, when all individuals have had their records written with electronic support, this will not be a problem. There are other issues regarding EMR that come up, though, such as privacy. The fact that the EMR offers access to data from different locations, namely hospitals and by doctors, and the data is managed by both IT and medical specialists, leaves doors open to unwanted hackers.
Some specialists fear that the confidentiality of personal data might be at risk, and that the patients won’t have the same privacy that they used to. Some people also believe the EMR has technology limitations, and such an amount of data would require too much space. The maintenance procedures also have to be considered, and any action that could damage the viability of the data must be prevented. Aside from the few disadvantages, though, the EMR software has even more advantages, and it will probably only take a few more years until it will be fully implemented on a national scale.