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EMR systems combined with regional and national HIE networks promise to make patient information available to providers to improve quality of care, prevent medical errors, and reduce healthcare costs.

"Server Availability Trends in the Time of Electronic Health Records: What the Move to Paperless Medical Records Means for Server Reliability" by Forrester Consulting finds that, despite debate on the rate of growth or barriers to adoption, EHR s are growing and here to stay.

Key findings From the paper:

• electronic health record s are transforming the role of IT in healthcare. After decades of slow adoption, new incentives and federal policies about healthcare and healthcare IT are driving providers to switch from paper to digital records. This shift is changing IT’s mission, its user base, and the service levels required.
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• Server availability needs greater attention. While respondents reported widespread impact of server failures on the providers’ clinical activities, problems persist, and current strategies are not adequate to ensuring the appropriate levels of system reliability. Fewer than half of IT professionals think that their server infrastructure is ready to meet the current and future needs of their institution.
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• Cost is the big barrier. Hardware and software costs topped the list of challenges as cash-strapped provider organizations are implementing a wide variety of clinical systems to meet the goals of electronic medical records, decision support tools, and diagnostic imaging systems. They are looking for a cost-effective solution that can still provide high levels of availability.

Source : Forrester Consulting

You can get more details about EMR & its related topics from our EMR User Group.