Electronic Medical Record: The Way To Go (A mini Review)

Abstract

An Electronic Medical Record (EMR) is an electronic record of health-related information of an individual that can be created, gathered,  managed and consulted by authorized clinicians and staff within one health care organization. The records are electronically inputted,  kept, processed and retrieved with the aid of electronic devices like computers, internet printers, mobile devices and other gadgets.  Electronic Medical Record, helps to improve the flow of information, through electronic means, to support the delivery of health services  and the management of health systems. The EMR was developed in 1972 by the Regenstreif Institute in the United States and was then  welcomed as a major advancement in medical practice. The use of EMR in developing countries has been slow due to several reasons. In  Nigeria, the government took a concrete step in 2019 by enacting the National Electronic Health Record Bill. The main deterrent to the  quick adoption of EMR is the cost of implementation and maintenance. Understanding the specific clinical requirements of users and  their limitations during system procurement, design and implementation is paramount to ensure system utility. In the surgical unit, EMR  enhances patient surgical record retrieval. It enables surgeons to see records of previous procedures and investigations in real-time while  performing surgery on a patient. Surgeons are able to directly communicate and share patient records with colleagues. Both the  facilitators and barriers to EMR can be attributed to four broad factors that have been discussed. These are human, financial,  organizational and technical factors.