Electronic Medical Records Benefit Patients and Physicians

Electronic medical records aren't just for convenience - they can save lives.

When the Food and Drug Administration recently issued a warning that the drug cisapride could cause abnormal heart rhythms, the family medicine clinic at Baylor College of Medicine used its electronic medical records to identify patients taking that medication. The clinic staff sent those patients a warning letter within 48 hours of receiving the notice. Without the electronic records, the staff would have had to search through more than 12,000 files to identify the patients at risk.

The Baylor clinic is among the 15 percent of doctors' offices in the United States that have replaced traditional file folders bulging with patients' charts and doctors' notes with computerized records.

Everything from the patient's weight and blood pressure to family history and current medications can be noted on a computer in the exam room. The nurse and doctor use a computer mouse and keyboard to record the information on a TV-like screen that the patient can view as well.

"The electronic medical record gives the physician immediate access to critical information about a patient," says Dr. John Joe, director of medical informatics for Baylor's department of family and community medicine. "This system avoids the delays that sometimes occur when a patient's file is misplaced or has to be retrieved from thousands of records."

Electronic records are also more reliable, Dr. Joe says, because the physician and nurse don't have to decipher illegible handwritten notes.

Accessibility outside the office is another advantage.

"If a patient has a medical emergency and pages me late at night, I can use a special laptop computer to access the medical records at our clinic and see which medications the patient is on before prescribing another drug or making some other recommendation," Dr. Joe says. The doctor on call after hours can do the same when treating another physician's patient.

Because the electronic medical records are available only on a computer system within the Baylor Family Medicine Clinic and require a password to be accessed, all information is secure and confidential.

Software programs enable physicians to request specific portions of a patient's medical record in just about any format imaginable. For example, a baby's measurements taken during regular checkups over the year can be converted into a graph showing how the baby's growth compares to the average rate for that age group. The physician can print a copy of the graph for the parent to take home.

Dr. Joe says patients and physicians have been pleased with the efficiency of the electronic medical records, which the Baylor clinic began using in April 1999.

"Upon seeing the computer screen in the exam room for the first time, one of my patients remarked, `I'm glad to see you've joined the 21st century!'" Dr. Joe says.

- B. J. ALMOND

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©2006 Texas Medical Center

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