Are computers the new technology in the medical field? Through my research I have found that electronic medical records have many benefits outweighing the use of paper health records. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 created financial incentives for medical facilities to develop electronic medical records systems, as part of a national campaign to modernize health information management (Feigenbaum). In the year of 2013 most hospital settings are physically using computers in their practice for Electronic Medical Records. Some facilities still are using Paper Health Record to document. In this paper I will discuss the pros and cons of paper health records versus electronic medical records. .
I currently am working as a nurse in a hospital that only the emergency department is only computerized at this time and I find it to work well most of the times. The Pros and Cons of electronic medical records is that the start-up can be expensive due to hardware and maintaining the system which can delay smaller facilities in converting over to electronic charting. The staff will have to be trained and need to know basic computer knowledge in order for a smooth transition. Once it is done it eliminates the extra staff that is hired to file or gain access to paper health records. .
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) protect the patient's health records from being accessed by the wrong people or talking to others about any of the patient's medical information. The downfall of electronic medical records is securities risks, hackers are able to access records and give out pertinent health information on patients. The facility will need to hire IT staff in order to keep up with maintaining and updating the computers. It can reduce simple human errors that can happen with paper health records by flagging abnormal labs, or drug interactions with medications that are ordered.