Patient records are an integral part of delivering high-quality healthcare to patients. The health industry previously relied on paper-based systems, and these systems very often depended on a patient’s ability to recall his own medical history and his family’s medical history on command. This system worked in the absence of a better solution, but now this industry has access to a much more efficient and reliable system which comes in the form of health informatics.

Here at CIS Consulting we have over 20 years of experience in the health informatics industry. We have been a part of the evolution in this field and have seen many innovations along the way. In this article we are going to go over three of the ways that health informatics positively impacts patient care.

Easily Sharing Healthcare Records

Many patients visit multiple healthcare providers. A paper-based records keeping system made it necessary for the patients to be able to remember their own medical history and allergies in order to transfer this information between providers. From the patient’s perspective, this means a lot of remembering and paper work.

Fortunately, these paper-based systems are all but a thing of the past. With modern electronic health record (EHR) and electronic medical record (EMR) systems now widely available and easily accessible to healthcare providers there is no longer a need for antiquated paper-based records keeping.

With a fully integrated EHR system, your new provider can have a bulk of your medical information before you even walk through the door. This is not only convenient, but can also decrease office wait times.

Less Trial and Error

EHRs help avoid potentially deadly allergic reactions by ensuring that the patient gets the right antibiotic or medication the first time around. This takes some of the guessing game out of the medical field. These systems can even warn physicians if the if a drug being prescribed will interact poorly with something the patient is all ready taking.

With EHR systems in place patients can rest a lot easier knowing they won’t accidentally be given medications they are allergic to or that could interact poorly with the medicaments they are already on.

Reduced Costs

Medical errors occur every day around the world. This can cost hospitals, practitioners, and patients huge amounts of money. According to the Institute of Medicine medical errors cost the U.S. an estimated $38 billion annually. By helping to remove human errors from the picture, health informatics can dramatically reduce the cost of operating a hospital or healthcare facility.

Informatics also reduces the need to take repeated blood work or tests by making results accessible to multiple healthcare providers. Insurance premiums remain constant, but there is a reduction in the amount of bills to pay. In practice, this proves to be another huge benefit of informatics.