EMR...

I've talked about EMR's (Electronic Medical Records) before.  There are some worries these records could be hacked.  Then there is the fact, these EMR's help medical staff when dealing with patients' medical needs.

This article discusses how EMR's helped lower the case of prescription errors in hospitalized HIV patients from 16% to 1.1%.  That's over a 90% reduction.  That's huge.

The problem lies in most medical professionals unfamiliarity with HIV medications.  They aren't aware of how these regimens work & what drugs may react or interact with these HIV meds.  Anyone on a regimen knows there are things we can ingest that will alter how our meds work.  Some foods, supplements & other medications will do this.  These interactions can increase or decrease the efficacy of 1 or more of the drugs being taken in tandem.  

Unfortunately, many patients whose regimens are altered in hospital, often stick with the wrong regimen until they see their primary care provider again.  By this time, the consequences could be quite pronounced.  These interactions could lead to toxicity or even viral resistance.  

Even if you are concerned about the safety of your medical records, which is a valid point, the benefits would seem to outweigh the danger.  Hopefully, the results from this study will be repeated & the application of EMR's will increase.

Cya...

EMR...

Kaiser Permanente, a national non-profit, health care center has something to say about HIV care in this article.   Their approach to treatment has led to the following advances.

• No disparities for mortality & meds rates among black & latinos
• 69% of + patients are effectively controlling the virus with meds, compared to at most 35% nationally
• HIV mortality rates are half the national average
• They have a 90+% regimen adherence among their patients
• 89% of + patients are in HIV-specific care within 90 days of diagnosis, compared to 50 % elsewhere.

I lifted those bullets from the article, but the point it simply, those specifics are amazing.   According to them they owe all of this to EMR, Electronic Medical Records.  I know there are some privacy concerns with the idea of having your medical records in a digital format.  However, few doctors these days rely on hard copy.  If these records are on any computer connected to the net then they can be hacked.  There will always be that risk with any information on a online computer.

However, the rewards of this program are tremendous.  Simply by allowing for consistency & continuity in treatment via these records, the success of this programs are noteworthy.  I can get little paranoid about my records, but if it means this is the result, then by all means keep them electronically.  EMR's can also save time & effort when dealing changing doctors & having your records forwarded.  They can save lives by transmitting data to EMT's.  

Like it or not, EMR's are the way things are going.  You might as well focus on the positive's they can bring you, instead of the negatives they might.  I'm pretty happy with this.

Cya