Physician Electronic Medical Record

The physician electronic medical record (EMR) is poised to become the standard in patient data, with a majority of doctors now reporting use of EMR at some level. The physician electronic medical record offers many benefits to the physician, patient and the healthcare industry as a whole:

• A physician electronic medical record can bring together a patient's entire medical profile for that practice in a single record, enabling practitioners to view medical history, current medications, immunization history, lab and radiology reports, demographics and more.
• Physician EMR enables multiple providers to coordinate patient care more effectively.
• Electronic medical records bring patient data out of the filing cabinet and put it at the physician's fingertips at the point of decision, enabling more informed choices about diagnoses and treatment.
• A physician electronic medical record helps improve patient safety by making it easier to check for drug interactions and allergies, and enabling physicians to search a database of medical record data to search for patients who meet certain profiles or who may be helped by advances in treatment of certain conditions or diseases.

To spur adoption of the physician electronic medical record, the federal government is offering financial incentives to medical practices that can demonstrate meaningful use of the physician electronic medical record, according to criteria established by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Smaller practices may find web based physician electronic medical record systems a better fit.

For the smaller practice seeking to implement an electronic medical record system, a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS EMR) or web based EMR solution may be the best option. Where traditional medical records software requires an upfront purchase of hardware and software as well as an IT team to install, maintain and upgrade the system, a web based physician electronic medical record system requires no capital investment and no IT team. Rather, the software is available as a service via a computer; the physician simply logs in to view a patient's medical record or input patient information. With no software to buy, the only cost to the practice is a monthly subscription fee that is both affordable and predictable. And because electronic data is stored at a secure data center instead of on servers inside the practice, patient data is highly protected from unauthorized access.

Rely on Centricity Advance for electronic record support and physician medical management tools.

Centricity Advance is a leading web based solution that combines physician electronic medical record technology with innovative medical practice management tools and a self-service patient portal to provide small practices with a comprehensive solution. Developed by GE Healthcare, a leading electronic medical record vendor, Centricity Advance is easy to use, quick to implement, and can be adopted in most practices in as little as four weeks. With Centricity Advance, the smaller medical practice can:

• Realize the clinical and administrative benefits of electronic medical records
• Streamline operations and improve revenue cycle management
• Give patients better access to their medical records

Learn more now about physician electronic medical record systems and Centricity Advance.