The rise of technological accessibility has had a pronounced effect on every single genre of the professional world across the last few years. Perhaps no single industry, though, has seen an explosion of innovation equal to that which has occurred in the medical field. Whether you're a doctor, a practice manager or simply interested in the growth of the medical field, you've no doubt noticed the rise of electronic medical records. Simpler and more efficient than alternative methods, EMRs have become a mainstay of most successful practices in the U.S.
"Simpler and more efficient than alternative methods, EMRs have become a mainstay of most successful practices in the U.S."
However, some confusion remains regarding exactly how to go about best using these technologies. While the needs of every practice will differ, a good way to understand what you should be using your EMR software for is to consider the benefits. With that in mind, take a look at the top three benefits of mobile EMRs:
1. Point of care information
Perhaps the single greatest benefit that mobile EMRs pose to physicians and practice managers is the ability to redefine the way that they think about point of care information. When dealing with any patient in any medical situation, it's important that you have the absolute most accurate and current data possible regarding their medical history. With mobile EMR technology, you can rest assured that you'll always have a patient's entire medical history at your fingertips. Better still, updating or altering a record on one device will cause that information to transfer across all devices, mobile or otherwise. As HealthIT has pointed out, this can lead to more coordinated and efficient patient care experiences.
2. Patient satisfaction
Believe it or not, integrating mobile EMRs into your clinic or practice may actually result in higher average patient satisfaction. BYOD News recently tweeted an article from Technology Advice regarding the rise of mobile EMR in the medical community:
forgetmebot: Never Forget: Why #mobile #EHR access is healthcare's next big thing http://t.co/sjNjN7eYHb by Zach Watson .Technology_Adv #MDM
— BYOD News (@byod_news) February 3, 2015
Technology Advice pointed out that patient satisfaction may increase as a result of integration of mobile EMR due to a heightened capacity for data access. Patients are bound to appreciate lower wait times while physicians access their data, and certain studies have even shown that most people have a positive reaction to doctors using tablets during their appointments.
3. Increased communication internally
One of the factors that can make or break any medical practice is internal communication. It's absolutely vital that you and your colleagues or staff are constantly able to not only be in contact with one another, but also to access important documents and charts such as EMRs. When you bring your EMR onto a mobile platform, you can not only guarantee that your individual access to it will heighten, but also that you'll be able to easily share records with your co-workers. Pulling up patient records in response to a chat at the push of a button or tap of a screen represents just the beginning of what you can do with EMR software.