One of the greatest potential benefits of electronic health records may be their ability to revolutionize population-based care. Technology will allow public health organizations to accumulate vast amounts of data on all kinds of things. This may benefit the development of new standards of care and best practices, as well as lead to better epidemiology tracking.
Individuals with chronic diseases may be the first to see a benefit from this. Conditions like diabetes, heart disease and kidney disease are notorious for require frequent doctor visits and excessive amounts of care. However, technology may allow medical professionals to develop new systems of care in which individual patients have access to information that may help them take more responsibility for their own care.
Health Leaders Media recently reported that some organizations are currently working to develop a system for tracking the condition of their diabetic patients. The system would take periodic readings of blood sugar levels and send reports to their physicians if a problem arises. Care providers are increasingly working to make this type of data gathering a higher priority.
"I think from an IT perspective, having the infrastructure to share information is really the impetus," John Hennessey, director of patient management systems for Kaleida Health of Buffalo, New York, told the news source.
Government is also working to make better use of the data collected in electronic health records. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently announced that it is planning to revamp its computer system. The plan calls for a modernization that will increase their ability to process data and use it in a meaningful way.
The project will start by eliminating duplicate data collection. This will make it easier for public health officials to sift through information to find only the most useful bits of data. Secondly, the agency plans on using the refined data to revamp how it delivers care based on patient outcomes. This could lead to significant cost savings and improvements in care.
CMS officials said that the move would help the healthcare system accomplish many of the goals of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which puts a major premium on reducing costs by improving efficiency through the use of evidence-based practices.