Cloud-based EMR - A Review

There are several types of EMR solutions offered by more than 300 vendors all over the United States. A computerized medical record stores data about patient demographics, diagnostic conditions, clinical tests, treatment, prescriptions etc for future use. 

Lethal Combination

There is a great deal of synergy between an EMR and the cloud technology. Cloud computing is a comprehensive computing solution, where shared resources are provided to users through internet. It is said to revolutionize mobile health services with respect to the potential towards efficiency and cost reduction. The concept was introduced by telecommunication companies using Virtual Private Network in 1990s for optimizing their resources. IDC, an Analyst firm estimates that spending on Cloud is expected to reach $73 billion by 2015; a threefold increase compared to the 2010 estimates.

Controlled by a remote location server, cloud based electronic medical recording helps hospitals and healthcare service providers to maintain records of patients, make accurate medical billing and improve the management of related events like cost. Doctors can gain access to the medical data through internet irrespective of their location for quick decision making. It enables them to make online requests to diagnostic centers and pharmacies. With cloud based EMR, patients are better taken care by eliminating chances of committing errors by the hospital staff or the service providers. Advancements in computing have opened new areas in healthcare applications like medical imaging. With cloud based EMR, diagnostic imaging has become easier and faster and is expected to lower the costs for patients. An early visible sign of this is the most recent announcement by AT&T about the new cloud based medical imaging and information management service. With this system in place, physicians’ access to diagnostic imaging will increase reducing cost of health systems, claims AT&T. 

Other Advantages:

Users’ expenses are very low towards managing these EMRs as there is no investment on software installation. Since the software is owned by the vendor, he is responsible to provide full protection of the data against system failures. The server maintenance is also taken care of by him. Further, it meets the HIPAA regulations and therefore security is not a critical contender. With cloud based EMRs, there are large scale savings of money and time for the healthcare and Medical transcription industry. 

Constraints:

The positive expense of ‘Cloud-based EMR’ poses certain constrains. It may not be feasible for the user to customize the functions as the control is with the vendor. The long term costs are likely to be higher compared to the Client/Server EMR systems. Also, there can be temporary work stoppages due to internet outages.

Despite all the constraints, cloud based EMR is a boon to patients, doctors, hospitals and the overall healthcare industry. With cloud based EMR, the industry would be able to improve their operating margins significantly.  Further researches would certainly bring in significant developments in this field and that is going to add new leaves to the healthcare management manual. Companies like Google, Apple and Microsoft have already made tremendous inroads within the arena of ‘Cloud’. The future is getting redefined day by day and the healthcare industry is not that far behind to experience a complete adoption of various efficiency-driving solutions like the ‘Cloud-based EMR’.