Every time you go to a doctor or visit the hospital, your physician will invariably turn to your medical chart for information. These documents are so vital to patient treatment and medical research that they’re at the heart of some of the most cutting-edge developments in healthcare.
Since the prevalence of electronic health records, the field has merged with data science and information technology.
Today, doctors and other medical professionals use data mining procedures to quickly find the right records. Powerful software can even assist doctors with predictive analytics, creating accurate projections based on patient histories.
But before the era of reliable electronic health records, medical professionals had to make these records with pen & paper. In this article, we will discuss how medical records evolved from Paper to Electronic.
Evolution of Medical Records?
The biggest change in this process has taken place in the last 20 years. With the advent of a computing device in the room and its use during the patient visit, the process has been simplified.
The presence of these computing devices has brought records and documents to the forefront.
There is often a corresponding level of curiosity, concern, and questions associated with this awareness.
Hospitals began using forms to impose order on their documents. Doctors changed tactics, taking down notes on their patients in real-time rather than retroactively.
By looking at the evolution of medical records, one can see how the attitudes of medical professionals have changed as well. Although health records began ostensibly to provide aspiring doctors with training manuals, the shift of focusing on patient welfare helped records improve immeasurably.
Today, medical records and technology are providing open avenues for research and better treatment for patients. One can only hope that this trend continues to develop in the years to come.
Final Thoughts
What has changed? Paper & pen were replaced with keyboard and monitor. With the invention of tablets, computers and more portable devices.
Our documentation methods have evolved from huge volumes of paper to electronic data that can easily fit on a small disk. However, Data is still collected by humans and it is the humans that control the quantity and quality of that data.
