The Benefits of EMR Software for Nursing Home Residents and Providers

Advancements in technology are continuously sparking, helping the healthcare industry to constantly progress. However, it's not just about new medicines, new treatment options or advanced medical equipment helping this field to progress, but also software technology.

Today's healthcare field, including its long term care sector, relies on electronic medical records (EMR) as opposed to the printed medical records kept in a specific closet drawer. An EMR is a computerized medical record that allows the efficient storage, fast retrieval and easy modification of resident records. EMR has advantages for both residents and providers.

According to the Institute of Medicine's (IOM) seminal study, as many as 98,000 people die each year due to preventable medical errors. These errors occur from incomplete or inaccurate information regarding medication adjustments. But, with nursing home EMR software, these medical errors can be prevented. EMR software monitors medication errors with drug interactions between diseases, symptoms and other drugs. In addition, nursing home residents take an average of eight medications each month. It's estimated that one adverse drug event occurs per patient per day. However, with EMR software, medication errors are reduced and resident care improves. With nursing home EMR, a resident’s information regarding medication, drug allergies and reactions are recorded for clinicians, thus helping reduce the occurrence of a medical problem.

Aside from medical errors, time is important when providing for residents. Did you know that the average provider spends 50% to 70% of their time documenting resident information? Did you know that detailed notes can take up to 5 to 7 minutes per resident? This is because providers are relying on paper medical records. However, with EMR, an average documentation is reduced to 2 to 4 minutes per resident. Also, providers don't have to deal with the hassle of disorganized paper medical records kept in a drawer because EMR software remains organized and at your fingertips.