History of Electronic Health Records
It may seem like electronic health records have always been a part of healthcare. However, EHRs were uncommon even 10 years ago as doctors spent more time documenting than diagnosing. Now, it is hard to imagine what patient care would look like without the decision support they provide. It is important to understand the history of electronic health records in order to gain insight into the future of this indispensable tool and other health information technology systems.
History of Electronic Health Records (EHR)
Electronic Health Records (EHR) began back in the mid-1960s followed by Lockheed’s development of Eclipsys, a computerized physician ordering system. Many things related to information technology and computers during this time frame were progressing. However, it wasn’t until the early 1990s when they were able to remove barriers, and the World Health Organization (WHO) began to set coding standards. As they began to conduct more studies, it became more obvious that manual systems were becoming outdated.
Progression of EHRs
In 2004, the importance of bringing electronic medical records to life was addressed by President George W. Bush. In fact, this was ultimately expanded upon by President Barack Obama during his presidency. This led to 70% of all patient care providers adopting electronic records by 2014. By 2015, the use of electronic records had doubled over the previous 8 years, with new rules impacting payments and maintaining secure patient records. As we enter 2021, the CURES Act continues to advance the use of electronic health records with requirements for sharing information and patient data across platforms. The word “interoperability” enters the healthcare environment.
Role of EHRs Today
What is interoperability of electronic health records? Is it making sure information on a patient’s address, phone number, and perhaps insurance are crossing between systems? Is it assuring lab values are available when clinicians are seeing patients? Sure, it is all of those coming together. However, at Visonex, it means even more. In fact, it is allowing multiple data sources to bring information into one platform, to assure patients with chronic diseases like Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD), or End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD), have electronic medical history records for clinicians to review, that include hospital systems, physician office systems, immunization databases and more! Interoperability means bringing more than one EHR system into a single system, including more than demographic information and lab information, to provide clinicians a more comprehensive picture of the patient’s status for informed decision making.
Visonex®
At Visonex®, we focus on building a solid relationship and providing powerful tools to help you manage your patients with CKD through ESRD. Whether you chose to tap into our analytical capabilities, build your chronic disease care management platform with us, use our EHR, Billing, or Management Services, we provide more than health information technology solutions; it’s about ongoing support, service, and making sure you’re getting what you need to be successful. Email us to learn more about how this could impact your organization [email protected] or Request Information. Maximize patient outcomes, improve regulatory compliance, streamline workflows, and incorporate multiple sources into a single landing point for chronic disease management. Now that is providing “Clarity” to a cloudy situation!