Electronic health records and online medical records: an asset or a liability under current conditions?

Conclusions The quality of medical data captured and information management is variable across hospitals. It is recommended that medical history documentation guidelines and standardised discharge summaries be implemented in Australian healthcare services.What is known about this topic? Australia has a complex health system, the government has approved funding to develop a universal online electronic medical record system and is currently trialling this in an opt-out style in the Napean Blue Mountains (NSW) and in Northern Queensland. The system was originally named the personally controlled electronic health record but has since been changed to MyHealth Record (2016). In Victoria, there exists a wide range of electronic health records used to varying degrees, with some hospitals still relying on paper-based records and many using scanned medical records. This causes inefficiencies in the recall of patient information and can potentially lead to incidences of adverse drug events.What does this paper add? This paper supports the concept of a shared medical record system using 200 audited patient records across five Victorian metropolitan hospitals, comparing the current information systems in place for healthcare practitioners to retrieve data. This research identifies the degree of concordance between these sources of information and in doing so, areas for improvement.What are the implications for practitioners? Implications of this research are the improvements in the qualit...
Source: Australian Health Review - Category: Hospital Management Authors: Tags: Aust Health Rev Source Type: research