The Changing Face of Electronic Patient Record Software

The face of medical records is changing at an alarming pace. No longer do medical professionals need to rely on old fashioned film and hand delivery of this film to view a patient's files. This is all thanks to electronic patient record software. More and more dentists, hospitals and other medical departments and services are changing the way their offices handle patient records.

Shared patient records are integral to the success and treatment of diseases such as cancer, cardio problems, and injuries. Electronic patient record software and CR systems such as CR software permit critical medical information and notes to be made readily available to medical personnel who need access to it, even in different departments and locations.

The ability to easily share patient information between departments and locations is increasingly important in the medical field. Software such as a CR system and cardiology PACS allow a medical staff to know instantly a specific medication a patient is taking, if they have any allergies, and what types of treatments they undergone. A CR system ensures a patient receives the most appropriate treatment in a timely manner. Another benefit of CR software is the easy ability to change a patient’s personal details like a name or address change. Information like this would only need to be amended once, from someone in any location, and the changes will be reflected throughout the CR solutions network.

One such type of CR solutions gaining popularity is Picture Archiving and Communications Storage. This technology lets images like X-rays, CT, ultrasound, cardiology PACS and MRI's to be stored and accessed immediately electronically. The medical technology saves time for both patients and staff, and is less expensive than film which needs to be stored in mass files. Through CR systems, like cardiology PACS, scans are immediately accessible whenever and wherever they are needed. If a patient an ultrasound taken in their family doctor's office, the image can be viewed and diagnosed from an office across the world in mere seconds.

Thanks to technology like cardiology PACS, diagnosis and treatment of heart problems is vastly improving. Cardiologic departments have the ability to share information and diagnosis with specialists from other hospitals. Patients benefit from cardiology PACS since there is less time waiting to receive results, so treatment is often quicker. For hospital staff, there are fewer wasted appointments due to lost or unusable scans.

Many firewalls have also been introduced to ensure that there are no security breaches in the sharing of information of CR systems. After all, patient data should never be compromised. Many security safeguards are being put in place so that only medical staff has access to these electronic patient records. Approved staff should be the only people with access to this private information. For example, a doctor's receptionist should never need the same level of access as a specialist.

Jonathon Blocker writes about the cr system. With installations at over 450 imaging centers and hospitals; Dicom Solutions is one of the leading distributors in the medical imaging industry.