Electronic health records continue to revolutionize health care

Deltek Analyst Aila Altman reports.

At the core of the countless benefits electronic health records (EHR) provide is the enhanced communication between medical professionals and patients. An up-to-date, comprehensive and accurate patient record enables medical professionals to make quality decisions regarding patient care. EHRs also help eliminate health risks such as dangerous drug interactions and unnecessary medical tests and procedures. That said, use of electronic prescribing (e-Prescribing or eRx) by the medical community goes hand-in-hand with the benefits of EHR implementation.

By way of an announcement made during this week’s first-ever U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Consumer Health IT Summit, patients may soon reap additional benefits from the implementation of EHRs. The proposed rule provides patients with improved access to their personal health information (PHI), and more specifically, enables patients to receive test results directly from labs. HHS believes this rule will improve patients’ communication with medical professionals regarding questions and concerns with tests. Not only would this rule provide such benefits, but access to this data is a fundamental right of an individual patient.

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