EMR use growing among doctors

May 29, 2013

For many industries, paperless tools can provide more efficiency and security over paper records. However, for some companies, going paperless may not just be a good idea, but a law as well. The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health act in 2009 began offering financial incentives to healthcare facilities that adopted electronic medical records (EMRs), and soon, these incentives will turn into penalties for offices that still use paper.  

Because of this law, Healthcare IT News cited an Accenture survey this week, and said that the number of and-hie-see-big-adoption-numbers” target=”_blank”>U.S. physicians that use EMR is now 93 percent.

Not only are more physicians using this software, there is an increase in the number that are comfortable with the many advantages that EMR​s bring.

"American doctors said they 'routinely' do e-prescribing (65 percent) and enter patient notes into EMRs (78 percent), representing a 34 percent annual increase," the article said. "These physicians also use IT for basic clinical tasks, such as receiving alerts while seeing patients (45 percent)."

The survey also found that many doctors have seen the major benefits that accompany EMR​s. An increase of physicians surveyed said that they saw a decline in medical errors after using digital records, and more doctors also said there was increase in the quality of data for medical research. 

While those surveyed were discussing medical records, many of the benefits gained with these digital files, such as fewer errors and improved data, can be seen in other industries that have gone paperless as well. By partnering with a bulk scanning service, offices can transition from a paper-heavy businesses to a paperless one efficiently and affordably. 

Tab Service Company is a Chicago based company with over 53 years of experience as a data processing service provider.  We provide business with outsourcing solutions for document scanning services, data entry services and mailing/lettershop services.  As a SOC2-approved service organization, we apply industry-best practices to our approach with clients.