Electronic Health Records and Women's Health
Healthcare Revolution is a Click Away
 There has been extraordinary progress in women’s health by bringing attention to women’s health issues and encouraging regular health screenings; overall keeping up with preventive measures. Now, technology is on a woman’s side in the form of the electronic medical record, or EMR.
The EMR is more than an electronic version of a paper chart. It assists physicians in collecting, evaluating and documenting information regarding your medical care via a computer.
According to The Commonwealth Fund report, women need more routine medical attention than men. Women are also more likely to have conditions that require ongoing medical attention: conditions that include family planning, reproductive healthcare, perinatal screening, mammograms, cervical cancer screenings, and treatment for postpartum depression. An EMR can assist in coordinating this care.
The EMR has many benefits compared to the traditional system of paper charts. It is easier for physicians to access the medical records both within the office and from outside the office. EMR accurately retains and retrieves information that might otherwise be lost or forgotten in a paper chart. Physicians can transmit clinical information easily and efficiently to consultants and specialists who collaborate in care. Patients can communicate through a secure computer portal with their own health record and with their own health care provider. In other words, EMR provides physicians and patients with the information that they need, when and where they need it, so that they can optimize a plan of care. One example is the EMR function called “Health Management Plan”.
The Health Management Plan (HMP) helps physicians and patients to monitor and respond to recommended procedures for health maintenance and disease management. Alerts are created when an HMP item is due or overdue. Such an item, for example, might include a mammogram, a PAP test or a lipid profile. In this way important elements of the care plan are neither forgotten nor overlooked.
Talk to your doctor about your plan for good health. You and your physician have a new tool to help document and monitor your progress – the Electronic Medical Record. Take advantage of it!
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