A medical record means several data gathered in one file in order to monitor every patient’s evolution. This definition sounds rather superficial. There are two main types of electronic medical record. First one is known as born digital medical record. This term refers to information originally stored on an electronic tablet or notebook PC. Then it would be transferred to a server or other electronic device. The other type of electronic medical record is originally produced on paper. There can be produced on hardcopies too as x-ray films or photographs. These images had been scanned and introduced to a database. These types of records are called digital format records. There are lots of records of this type. All papers containing information about patients had been converted to digital format. This process took long time but proved extremely efficient. The most important obstacle which had to be passed was rather odd. There was no electronic device to solve this problem. First there were some problems with the handwriting on some paper. Other cases simply had to be abandoned because the writing on the paper was impossible to be read.
In other situations there was pretty hard to reach the level of accuracy of the images. In order to assure further access to these data, several copies were needed. There had to be found a way to keep safe all these papers. The importance of keeping them out of any danger was stringent. As anyone could notice till now, creating an electronic medical record by transforming the physical one is really complicated; and is not only about time. It is about money too. This is a very expensive procedure and takes such an effort.
An electronic medical record implies the condition of privacy. In US all these information belonging to this area are called Protected Healthcare Information (PHI). Protecting the rights of every patient is very important. The Healthcare Insurance Portability and Accountability Act created the proper environment in which patients and doctors would be protected in the same time. There are other American similar laws designed to keep safe information in an electronic medical record.
In US the Department of Veterans Affairs possesses the greatest health information system. The electronic medical record offers all kind of facilities and is able to assure permanent care.
The electronic medical record concept can be divided in other two branches. The first branch is known as ASP. ASP implies access to needed data through a browser. This service is usually paid. An IT company monitors the system and the beneficiary has to pay a previously established fee. The weak point of this structure lies in its impossibility to work faster. There is a certain limit which cannot be passed. In spite of the fact that anyone can access his private data from all over the world he would have to be patient. The problem is, in such conditions, a man’s life depends on accessing these data. So time has to be an ally.
The second branch is the client/server system. This one is much faster than the previous one. There are new products in this domain which improve a lot its applicability. This type of electronic medical record is much useful than the other one. Choosing the perfect electronic medical record is not easy and there are several conditions which are so important. Beside its importance as an electronic device which is designed to ease the manual work, the electronic medical record assures the long life of all data. It can be of real help in every hospital or consulting room. There are few aspects to follow in finding a product to suit everyone’s demand, few of these aspects had been presented above.