When you go to a doctor’s office, the doctor usually has a chart that is used to maintain health records about you. This week’s article discusses how technology is changing the old system of paper records. Go to the link below and read the article. Write a reflective comment that shows you have read the article, expresses your views, and addresses my questions.
Should all doctors use electronic health records? If not, why not? How would you encourage doctors to switch to electronic health records? How could the problem of start-up costs be addressed? How might Dr. Ferris have avoided the problems that he encountered? What potential benefits do you see using electronic health records? What potential problems do you see using electronic health records?
Medical Charts Article
14 comments:
Electronic health records seem tremendously beneficial according to what the patients have said. If the doctors are capable of affording the set up fee, I think it should be mandatory for them to have the device. However, there might be some patients who cannot enjoy the privileges of this new-age system because they do not have access to the internet. Especially in country side, electronic health record system will be much less promising. In my opinion, since president Obama promised to use a whole lot of dollars in repairing and enhancing the health care system in America, the primary option should be providing doctors with the new innovative system. That will both solve the price and encouragement for the doctors to have electronic health record system. Dr. Ferris sure gives a reasonable explanation for not having the new system. Hiring a technician who is an expert in those fields might be a solution. Electronic health records will bestow patients with a far more uncomplicated access to their records. However, some precious patient data or personal information can be exposed to hackers and can be used in other people’s advantages.
I like the idea of electronic health records. The world is becoming more and more globalized with each passing year, and it will happen eventually so why not sooner rather then later. Perhaps if the government paid the start-up company, so the money could be more efficiently transferred, and then the company could lower their start-up costs. If doctors could see a close pay-back date, so to speak, then perhaps they would be more convinced, and if there was a campaign to show doctors the benefits, that might work. The benefits include efficient organization, easy access globally, and easy way of sending information to patients and pharmacies. As well as an efficient way to check that everyone is up to date with blood tests and vaccines etc. However, a few problems I can foresee would be the loss of data, or a computer malfunction affecting everyone’s records which could lead to problems with treatment. If a hacker wished to break in they could see some classified information, if the electronic records were not protected correctly. However overall, I very much like the idea of electronic records and I think we will see more of them in the future.
I think that it is better if doctors to use normal records on paper because it is too risky to rely on computers, because you never know if the computer can crash and just lose all the folders.
They should have external hard drives as backup to the information. Lower the cost for start-up costs. There would be no potential, I actually think that using electronic records would be very unreliable. Basically, electronic records are bad and unreliable.
All doctors should because it is more organized and more efficient. This way rather than spending time trying to file their patients records they can focus on healing the patients. It is easier to use the electronic system and it can be accessed at any time. Rather than carrying around patents records they can just open it on the computer, also information could be added faster to each record if needed. If all doctors understood this then it would change their minds. We should find ways to show doctors the simplicity of this system. Start up costs should be lowered.
He could have avoided the problem by using external hard drives as back up for the information. Potential benefits would be that Electronic health records save time and are more organized and can be accessed more easily. The one problem might be the risk of the files getting deleted or that someone might hack the system.
Noor Mansur
I definitely think that the electronic records are a significant improvement in medical history. In my opinion, it makes doctors more efficient, where they don’t have to dig through piles of paper to find the information they want. Obviously, if doctors do not like the idea of this, they should not use this, that is their choice. This new technology has only just started, and there are going to be problems like breaking down, maybe system instability, etc., but there is so much time to improve. Give the developers some time to perfect their product. Now that the developers know what problems are happening with the electronics records, they can figure out how to fix it. Dr. Ferris has some getting use to the electronic records to do, but like I said, this is just the beginning. I would suggest that he have a technician read to fix his stuff if needed.
Hello Mr. Beyer,
well thats not a fair question to ask since like it's easier to record information on electronics than on papers, but as we learned in the earlier post, its not a safe place for information.
Well with the economic crisis now a days we could convince them with discounts,and show to them the simplicity of electronics. :) Isn't that right Mr. Beyer???
Start-up prices should be reduced.
Faster, easier, simpler.
Information not safe, easy to lose all the information, prices varie greatly and differ from old fashioned paper records.
I definitely agree that the electronic records are more efficient and easier to use in such cases. It gives the advantage of finding patients records by the push of a button. We would have to encourage the doctors to install these new technological systems by showing them the benefits and by having a campaign giving the advantages and the prices for each or by giving special offers. As I said in the previous sentence, the start-up costs could be addressed by the campaign that is made by the company itself. I would suggest for Dr.Ferris to call his technician to fix up his problem. It gives you the chance to save time as searching for the patients records. It also may give you the advantage to send the records to pharmacies or to other doctors. Some problems may be the hackers on the internet in which you may lose your files for the benefit of someone else. So make sure to install a good firewall on your computer if you are using such a program.
I encourage all doctors to use electronic health records because it will give them easier and quicker access to files. I would encourage doctors to switch to electronic health records by reminding them how long it sometimes takes to find a patients file in the cabinet, but if it was electronic you would just search for it and you would get it. Dr. Ferris could have avoided his problem if he made a backup on another electronic device. The potential benefits of electronic health records is that it can speed up the process for a doctor. The potential problems could be that the system could crash and everything would be gone. I think that this electronic health record idea is a good idea just as long as there is a back up though so you can stay on the safe side.
I believe that all doctors should use electronic health records. Especially in big hospital where they have many patients, it will be easier for the doctors to organize health records of patients. To encourage doctors to switch to electronic health records, there should be a government aid. Also, advertizing or having a campaign about electronic health record can convince more doctors to start using electronic health records. Start-up costs really mean buying the software for the electronic health record system. In the beginning stage, government can aid money to buy such software. After that, government can invest money to develop new system, and provide for free to the doctors who want the software. Dr. Ferris should have considered which environment of the computer can run the software the best. Also, if there were problems in using the software, he should have inquired the company that sold it. The potential benefit of using electronic health records is that patients can be treated faster and more effectively. One problem that might happen in using electronic health records is that it is using database found in the Internet, and so there can be a risk of someone hacking into the system.
Doctors in developed contries have no reason not to use electronic records. In the long run it has shown to save them money by making them more efficient and reducing the paper they consume. If the government is giving doctors money to make their records electronic then they should be able to help with the costs and any prroblems doctors encounter. If this makes doctors more efficient it won't only save money but also save lives. Drawbacks could be technical problemss but those can be solved by governemnt help.
The idea of electronic health records seems to be very productive. It helps doctors find things more easily, which is good because then they can spend their time saving lives instead of looking for stupid records. If there is any technical difficulty a doctor should call a specified technician to fix this problem. Overall I think that this will help all doctors and patients in the future. It helps doctors save time, and it helps patients to not have to wait.
I believe that all doctors should possess some form of electronically storing health records. This seems to be a really effective system that produces great results. The way I would engourage doctors to switch to electronic health records is by showing how much easier the new system is and how it could provide so much help. I think that the start-up costs could be addressed by getting a loan since they would earn so much more money from the electronic system. Dr.Ferris could have avoided his problems by having an expert team of software engineers to set up the system so that he wouldn't have to worry about it. I think that the use of this new electronic system will enourmously increase productivity. One potential problem I see is that there might be a possiblity where a hacker or a virus may get into the system and damage some of the records.
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