The electronic medical record refers to a compilation of clinical information about an individual that is saved digitally on a computer. This contains information such as prescriptions, examinations, sensitivities, vaccinations, and potential treatments, as well as information about a patient’s medical history. Electronic health records should primarily be utilized for clinical research (Abul-Husn & Kenny, 2019). In particular, the utilization of these data can efficiently simplify prospective and retrospective studies, minimize medical errors, improve protocol, and aid in subject identification. Similarly, the records could become crucial in forecasting observational and comparative effectiveness studies (Cowie et al., 2017). Furthermore, they might be utilized to assess research feasibility, improve patient admission, gather background data, and aid with client monitoring.
Medical records minimize duplicate data collection, and they can therefore incorporate the all-inclusive information of a patient’s life. Thus, this enables proper focus on treating diseases using the current information (Abul-Husn & Kenny, 2019). For instance, the electronic health record outlines a more detailed ailment report than previously obtained data through observation. Moreover, they are essential as they significantly promote a wider spread of epidemiological investigations on the historical development of illness, medication usage, improved outcomes, and diagnostic testing. Electronic health records can also be used for safety surveillance and signal detection (Cowie et al., 2017). This is because they provide explicit occurrence of events and the use of appropriate drugs. In addition, the use of electronic health records substantially reduces transcription errors that may arise. They also facilitate the initial trial costs, thereby reducing experimental expenses. Finally, digital health files are a potential way of increasing clinical efficiency and providing support for comparing the effectiveness of medical studies and sound models that may address key clinical issues.
References
Abul-Husn, N. S., & Kenny, E. E. (2019). Personalized medicine and the power of electronic health records. Cell, 177(1), 58-69. Web.
Cowie, M. R., Blomster, J. I., Curtis, L. H., Duclaux, S., Ford, I., Fritz, F.,… & Zalewski, A. (2017). Electronic health records to facilitate clinical research. Clinical Research in Cardiology, 106(1), 1-9. Web.