Does the office of your doctor you fill out medical forms on an iPad? Does the nurse type symptoms in a desktop computer? Have you had a video conference with your doctor?
If you have not seen these changes in your doctor's office, they could happen soon. More health care providers go paperless and moving in the field of electronic health records (EHRs).
It is estimated that 55 percent of all physicians are already on an EHR system. Among those who are not on an even, about half of them have either bought a system or plan for next year.
There are a lot of controversy about EHR systems. Are they safe? Do patients have access to their records? Will they save doctors ?? and patients ?? money?
Is that such a system beneficial for someone who may have mesothelioma or already diagnosed? The answer is simple yes, and it is because of the speed. Physicians can document, recall and share information faster than ever and this is crucial for patients of potential mesothelioma. It usually takes about six months for a person to be diagnosed with mesothelioma and many consider it too long of a wait.
Most mesothelioma diagnoses begin with a primary care physician or family doctor. But a doctor has all the answers. The study of medicine is simply too big and it's incredibly valuable to see a specialist who has a rare cancer like mesothelioma. Once your information has been documented in an EHR system, your doctor can easily send your medical history to another doctor to whom you were referred.
Improving the treatment of mesothelioma with electronic health records
In 2011, there was a study on the workflow of physicians which examined how EHR systems can improve patient care. One of the biggest benefits observed have access to medical records of a remote patient (74 percent of physicians found beneficial in the last 30 days).
For someone who has been waiting for a diagnosis and underwent several tests and even a biopsy, an electronic medical record registers a crucial element in each diagnosis :. time
times the speed of being able to view medical information between laboratories and physicians decreased waiting. It also takes less time to share medical information specialists and hospitals. If you seek advice from another expert in another part of the country, or even in a different country, your records are easily available.
The sooner you are diagnosed, the sooner you can begin treatment. When dealing with mesothelioma, early treatment is the key.
What is the future of patient care?
A new era of telehealth began to inaugurate its way in providing health services to patients. The EHR system is a small cog for health professionals who use telehealth to communicate with other physicians and their patients.
Recently, the company that created the popular Roomba floor invested in the RP-VITA Remote Presence Virtual + Independent Telemedicine cleaning assistant (RP-VITA). It looks like an information booth planted on top of a Roomba. Instead of cleaning the floor, it is equipped with a monitor and camera so you can video conference with your doctor away
These technological features are not without some setbacks :.
- There is always the possibility of technical and electronic problems
- Talk to a doctor through a robot with a monitor can feel impersonal
- doctors are not hands on with patients, which limits the number of non-verbal cues
- patients facing life-altering situations are watching a screen
a device like the RP-VITA is not appropriate to reveal a life changing diagnosis as mesothelioma. Having a doctor present is much more acceptable.
Telehealth is best for acute medical decisions that big, percussive. It helps during examinations and other visits that do not require a hospital visit. EHR systems also give the patients convenience and less waiting time, something that many health care facilities struggling with. It seems that soon we will see more automated systems in our medical institutions.
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