One of my readers emailed me about a presentation he was looking at doing about EMR software and consumers. I was really intrigued by the idea of presenting on the benefits of an EMR to the consumer (Translation: Patients). I’d spent quite a bit of time thinking about the benefits of an EMR to doctors, but I hadn’t put as much thought and effort into the benefits of an EMR to patients.
Here’s our initial brainstorm on the benefits of an EMR to patients. Feel free to add to the list in the comments:
-Online Appt Scheduling
-Online Prescription Refills
-Online Patient Information
-Online Forms (possibly pulled in from a PHR)
-e-Visits (this is a controversial one)
-Secure communication with doctor
-Recall/Reminders Electronically
-Patient participation in health record (ie. diet journals)
-Better point of care
-Clinical decision support
-Better access to your health records
-Less errors
-Lower cost
-Better collaboration and communication between primary care and specialty Drs
No doubt some of these benefits should have a ? mark by them. Although, I like the idea of looking at the EMR from the patient perspective. I do after all think that consumers might be the key to “forcing” broad EMR adoption.
