Top 7 Benefits of Understanding the Flow of Information into and across EHRs

EHR software collects, records, and maintains patient data. This can include common patient demographic information, medical history, diagnoses, medications, prescriptions, allergy list, documents, and lab results. The goal of an EHR is to organize patient data, creating it simpler for healthcare staff to evaluate a patient's record before or while their visit.

EHR tries to digitize your health records so that they're comprehensible by all of your health care providers. Providers take notes in an EHR system so that any doctor in your future can find them, easily understand them, and can add to them.

EHR has also been in the limelight over recent times due to the Customer Management System (CMS) "Significant Use" laws, which have motivated hospitals and practices to implement digital systems.

What is HIE (Health Information Exchange)?

Electronic health information exchange (HIE) allows doctors, nurses, pharmacists, other health care providers, and patients to appropriately access and securely share a patient's vital medical information electronically - improving the speed, quality, safety, and cost of patient care.

Health Information Exchange allows health care professionals and patients to appropriately access and securely share a patient's medical information electronically. Many health care delivery scenarios are driving the technology behind the different forms of health information exchange available today.

Benefits of Health Information Exchange

Health Information Exchange connects the healthcare providers to all aspects of a client's medical history. Providers can receive and exchange health information through HIE such as a patient discharge summary from a community hospital. This information can be brought into a patient's chart as electronic health data after it has been reviewed. Using an HIE helps facilitate coordinated patient care, enabling an organization to:

HIEs reduce the amount of time patients spend completing paperwork and briefing their providers on their medical history. This frees up more time for discussions about health concerns and treatments between the patient and provider. By saving time for patients and providers along the continuum of healthcare delivery, HIEs have the potential to both reduce costs and improve health outcomes.

EHRs and the ability to exchange health information electronically can help you provide higher quality and safer care for patients while creating tangible enhancements for your organization.

7 Benefits of Understanding the Flow of Information into and across EHRS

Summary

Regardless of the challenges, EHRs and HIEs aren't going away. They are a major part of the digitization of healthcare and the shift toward value-based care. Learning to utilize these tools effectively will help your organization provide more streamlined, effective patient care. And, of course, we recommend working with an EHR vendor who will help you navigate this process with training, support, and best practices!