The business world has had a long-standing debate about the best means of data storage. The healthcare industry has now decided to join in the debate with increasing adoption of EHRs. Electronic health records claim to improve on current paper-based methods. However, EHRs are not flawless. Learn more about the pros and cons of EHRs and decide for yourself.

What is an Electronic Health Record?

An electronic health record (EHR) is an individual’s official health document that is accessible on their mobile devices and shareable between multiple facilities and agencies. The role of an EHR is growing exponentially in keeping track of the ever-growing patient database.

Typically an EHR includes: contact information, allergies, family history, list of medications, information regarding previous surgeries and procedures, and other relevant patient information.

How EHRs improve patient care

EHRs improve patient care in significant ways.The first being that they can aid in diagnosing patient illnesses based on past history and the patients’ complete health information. EHRs can also help reduce medical errors and false positives. While EHRs do contain and transmit data, information can also be manipulated in meaningful ways to provide information to the provider at the point of care.

Lastly, EHRs can also improve overall public health by providing a birdseye view of the entire patient population and overall health information. This lets providers identify risk factors that most impact the patients and proactively prepare for potential outbreaks or illnesses.

The big debate: EHR vs Paper Records

The long-lasting debate of digital vs traditional data storage has expanded to every industry, and healthcare isn’t spared from it either. While most agree that EHRs offer more benefits in comparison with paper records, EHRs themselves are not flawless. Below are some of the major differences between paper and electronic records.

1. Time: Providers have noted that EHRs have saved them an average of 15 hours a week in documentation, allowing them to focus on what’s really important: their patients. However, other experts in the field have argued that the learning curve in using EHRs is too steep and reduces healthcare providers into becoming data entry staff. And all the typing, clicking, and pointing, have caused physicians to become distracted from their patients.
2. Environment: One the most obvious benefits of going digital is the reduction of impact on the environment. A typical patient’s medical record usually encompasses close to hundreds of pages and might even run into the thousands in the most extreme cases.
3. Security: Paper records can be compromised two ways: by being misplaced or getting stolen (in the unlikely event of a break-in). EHRs, on the other hand, are at risk due to the increasing prevalence of cyberattacks. Recent years in particular have been rough for the healthcare industry, as evidenced by the cybersecurity and data breaches involving thousands of medical records being accessed.
4. Cost: Large healthcare providers often have to pay close to $1 billion or more to purchase, install and gain full access to EHR systems. Maintaining EHRs is also associated with long-term costs. Maintaining paper records, by contrast, requires only human administrative costs and storage costs.
5. Access: One of the biggest gripes against paper records is the fact that it is incredibly tedious to access and share. Obtaining a paper record involves first having to find it -- possibly within a mound of files -- and then either mailing, faxing or scanning the copies. Sharing EHRs on the other hand is much easier, patients and medical personnel can access information via the download of an app or by sending a photo via a secured network.
6. Illegibility: If you’ve visited a doctor you’re probably aware of the handwriting on their notes. A physician’s penmanship is often tough to read and decipher, and very easy to misinterpret. Paper records are also notorious for not providing enough space for a physician to jot everything down legibly. With EHRs, there is an unlimited amount of space, reducing concerns regarding illegibility.

EHRs in the future:

Experts on the subject seem to believe that EHRs need to evolve a little more before being fully accepted and integrated by all healthcare institutions. Changes include:

• • Reducing the data entry burden
  • Including remote monitoring
  • Increasing transparency
  • Increasing room for patient engagement

Would you like advice on the best EHR systems in the market or on how to implement these EHR systems? Look no further and let our experts guide you. Call today.

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Virtual containers have recently gained prominence with the open-source container platform, Docker. It promises to change the way IT operations are carried out, just like virtualization technology did a few years ago. Read on to know more about this revolutionary breakthrough and how it can help your business.

What are containers and why are they so popular?

Virtual containers are similar to shipping containers, which have made the transport of bulky goods much easier.

Prior to the introduction of containers, virtual workstations and servers granted users access to software and computing power across a local network or the internet. This is what has become known as “cloud computing,” as it created entire desktop experiences over the internet.

However, there was room for improvement, as virtual machines are known to take up a lot of system resources.This is because they run a virtual copy of an operating system alongside a virtual copy of all the hardware that the operating system needs to run. Such heavy load on one machine quickly takes up a lot of RAM and CPU cycles, slowing processes down.

Containers improve on the inefficiencies of cloud computing by promising developers that their software will run smoothly, regardless of the type of computer their end users are running.

How do they improve on virtual desktops?

Virtual desktops deliver thousands of applications to meet the needs of your business. These applications also use different languages, databases, and tools. To deploy, configure, manage and deliver these complex machines takes a lot of time and money.

Containers are essentially a better way to package these applications and their components. This technology helps organizations become more consistent and agile by extracting the host’s underlying operating system, meaning applications can be packaged with all their dependencies. This in turn, allows developers to choose the right environments and tools that best suit their projects.

As of now, only a few types of software create and deliver containers, with the most popular being Docker. Container technology had been around for a while before the introduction of Docker, but it was complex to implement and manage. With the popularity of virtualization services, software vendors gained resources to develop and offer simple, user-friendly container solutions.

Although containers have improved enterprise computing as a whole, virtual machines have not been made obsolete, and can still be used under certain circumstances. Regardless, both solutions -- containers and virtual machines -- can repurpose old hardware to utilize software hosted in the cloud. All you need to get started is an internet connection and an experienced IT professional by your side.

Want to maximize your business potential through virtualization and containers but don’t have an IT professional to consult? Call us today.

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