Digital health technology provides healthcare practitioners and healthcare institutions with immense opportunities. It affords us the ability to strengthen and to improve our healthcare systems, transform the way healthcare is provided to our population, as well as the way people engage with our healthcare system (Department of Health, 2019). Governments that are forward thinking and successive have long realised the importance of transitioning and moving onto a digital health platform, that encompasses digitising services and processed that have traditionally been delivered physically (Health and Social Care Commitee, 2023). Health systems, in low to middle income countries, must address diverse population needs in remote and often poorly resourced environments, and yet expected to deliver high quality healthcare services (Piette, et al., 2012). E-health tools are designed to improve healthcare surveillance, health education, clinical decision making and disease management (Piette, et al., 2012). Some of these systems include digital patient record keeping, patient-targeted text messaging and picture archiving of health information on patients (Piette, et al., 2012). In developing countries, health technology via mobile phones helps overcome the lack of access to reliable health information, not only for the patient but for the healthcare professional as well (Keeton, 2012). South Africa’s digital health vision is “Better health for all South Africans enabled by person-centric digital health” (Department of Health, 2019).
Electronic medical record keeping, has had a positive effect on patient care and the work lives of medical doctors (Manca, 2015). Electronic health records (HER), gives the healthcare professional information about the patient, in formats that was simply not possible with paper-based charts. EHR, improves disease management, prevention, screening, and tracking changes over time on the patient. It helps the medical professional provide goal directed therapy for the patient, simply because the information is readily available (Manca, 2015). Furthermore, EHR improves communication and relationships between various team members on the multidisciplinary healthcare team, as well as between the patient and the practitioner (Manca, 2015). EHR should generate essential healthcare statistic, meticulous patient documentation, disease coding and billing compliance, medico-legal defensibility, simplicity, improved workflow, incorporation of clinical images, input speed at point of entry and be user friendly (Honavar, 2020). However, EHR is not without negatives. Some of the reported drawbacks from EHR systems are practitioners sometimes find it cumbersome and time consuming to enter all the information into a computer, high data noise from the immense information entered into the record (Honavar, 2020).
At Triad Billing, we are proud to introduce our EHR form, tailored for the specialist anaesthesiologist.. This form allows you the treating anaesthesiologist to enter all your patients’ medical records from your phone. This form allows you to add pictures of your patient’s laboratory tests, x-ray images and much more. The benefit to you is that you do not need to worry about having to file and store all those cumbersome paper-based records. You will be able to recall any of these records when you have a repeat patient that you need to anaesthetise saving you valuable time in your pre-operative consult with your patient. You will also be able to better prepare for your patient in theatre since you will have his previous anaesthetic record at your fingertips.
Bibliography
Department of Health, 2019. National Digital Health Strategy for South Africa, Pretoria: National Department of Health.
Health and Social Care Commitee, 2023. Digital transformation in the NHS, s.l.: House of Commons.
Honavar, S. G., 2020. Electronic medical records – The good, the bad and the ugly. Indian Journal of Opthalmology, 68(3), pp. 417-418.
Keeton, C., 2012. Measuring the impact of e-health. Bulletin of world Health Organisation, 90(3), pp. 326-327.
Manca, D. P., 2015. Do electronic medical records improve quality of care?. Canadian Family Physician, 61(10), pp. 846-847.
Piette, J. D. et al., 2012. Impacts of e-health on the outcomes of care in low- and middle-income countries: where do we go from here?. Bulletin of the World Health Orhanisation, Volume 90, pp. 365-372.
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