No going back to paper charting

Transforming from paper chart to electronic health record (EHR) not only involves money but also time and commitment. As we all know that people resist to changes, however to make our lives easier, people should learn to be committed and adopt the changes. Even though it seems harder to use an EHR system, it is not that bad once you start using it. The reason it makes it harder is because medical staff are not trained or used to using electronic devices such as computer, laptops or tablets but once staff gets used to these devices it makes their job a lot more easier and faster.

The advantages are not some that are just listed in the books; they are also working in the real world. A physician at Port St. John Family Practice was interviewed, who said that even though it takes time to adapt to an EHR system, they are never going back to paper charting as EHR is far better with lots of advantages. EHR systems have also proven to be a better system than practice management system (PMS) as EHR systems can be used by all medical staff – administrative staff, financial staff, clinical staff as well as physicians. Some of the noticeable advantages pointed out by the physician are:

· Reduce office staff
· Flowsheets are customizable
· Easily customizable templates
· Patient history was easily accessible in fractions of seconds
· Patient charting is completed during the visit, the physicians don’t have to spend extra time on completing the chart after the patient has left
· Legibility when documenting
· Disaster recovery is possible now

The above mentioned advantages are just few identified by the physician; however there are a lot more advantages that come with implementing an EHR system. Even though some practices are against implementing an EHR system for their practice, I believe that they should look at the pros of implementing an EHR, talk to other practices who have already implemented and are using a system or are in the process of implementation. I believe that the benefits are to improve and increase overtime.