The Growing Trend of Electronic Healthcare Records Throughout Healthcare

Facilities Increasing Patient Satisfaction and Care

Cleveland State University Throughout the years there has been a growing trend of healthcare facilities converting physical or paper records to electronic records. Electronic medical records serve many benefits such as reductions in space, barriers to access, and ease of transferring among healthcare facilities. Major healthcare systems, like the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, have joined the EMR bandwagon. Although EMR does have some opposition, healthcare professionals need to jump on board because in the near future paper records will not exist. “In 2003, a study by Morris found that a large majority of General Practitioners (94%) routinely used computer systems in patient care” (Bouamrane, p. 7). Considering computers have only been widespread for medical records since the 1990s, the scope of this trend is growing exponentially. The idea behind electronic medical records first came out in the 1960s. Dr. Lawrence Weed described how a computerized medical record system would improve patient care. With increments in technology in the 1990s, EMR started to become more widespread throughout all types of healthcare facilities (Pinkerton, p. 1). EMR has slowly become more complex and complete each year with advancements in technology. EMR has had a major impact on Americans. Patient records are now more easily obtainable and physicians can view a more complete patient history in a quicker period of time. “Consumers can access their own health information, contribute to their health record and interact more effectively and efficiently with the health system” (Reeve, Hosking, Allinson, p. 71). American healthcare has been greatly effected by the EMR trend. Laws have been impacted, patients, and hospital staff. EMR helps patients be more in tune with their own care. “Studies showing improved patient safety from EMR use in hospital and ambulatory care largely focus on alerts, reminders, and other components” (Hillestad & Bigelow, p. 1105). EMR is a trend all