The Advantages of Keeping Medical Records on a Central Computer

With technology advancing the way that medicine is practiced, it only seems natural that it would also advance the way that medical records are kept and stored. While huge, manila folders with patient histories are common, keeping the same information on a centralized, computer database can have a great deal of advantages that will make the process of paperwork easier and faster, and which will make storage problems an issue of the past.

Storage

• The immediate benefit of keeping medical records on a central computer in electronic format is that they create no storage problems. Physical, paper files can get bulky, particularly for patients who have a very long medical history. Since there isn't always a convenient room in which to store huge amounts of files, electronic medical records eliminate that need.

Organization

• Physical files, or even files that are kept on separate computers, can be disorganized and hard to locate. If medical records are kept on a central database, then that is no longer an issue. The records will be organized according to the computer's instructions (alphabetical by last name, ordered by date of admittance, etc.), and the option to simply type in the name of the patient and search for her file can cut down on the location of records significantly.

Access

• Keeping all of the medical records on one database also means that every member of a medical staff knows where to look for the records. The database could be accessed from computers at the front desk, from a doctor's personal office or from any other computer. This means that not only do medical staff not need to dig around for hours to find the proper file, but they can access that file from any computer that is connected to the central database.

Being Green

• By eliminating the need for paper files, and by organizing how medical records are kept on a central computer, it provides a green solution to the problem of record keeping. Instead of spending all that money on forms, pens, pencils, file clerks and other expenses, electronic filing and organization means that a great deal less paper needs to be used, and it helps cut down on waste materials.

Disadvantages

• Since electronic medical records haven't been accepted everywhere, there might be issues trying to transfer from one facility that uses electronic records to one that doesn't. Also, the issues of power outages, computer literacy, software bugs and even cyber attack on central databases can be shown to be genuine concerns that many people face about electronic records in general and centralized record databases in particular.