In a recent post from The Health Care Blog, the faults in patient engagement are analyzed, and the problem lies in physician communication and health record accessibility. As different EHR systems fail to adopt a standardized communication method, patients are forced to remember and repeat their medical history. Dr. Smith notes, “This drive for patient engagement often fails to recognize one important truth: Our healthcare system inadvertently, yet potently, discourages engagement. It ignores the fact that the patient is already the most engaged person in healthcare. The patient bears the disease, the pain, the scar – and, ultimately, the bill.”
How can healthcare balance the responsibility among all parties involved? A large barrier comes in the absence of cross-compatibility of EHR/EMR systems. Time is lost communicating medical histories and records, wasting both physician and patient resources; streamlining this process will increase the functionality of hospitals.
What is holding healthcare back?
- Lack of patient-centered care
- Proprietary business models
- Being stuck in old operational habits
Are there any other factors affecting patient engagement, and hospital functionality? How much can new technology help healthcare? How many EHR systems do you need?
Read more of our blog posts about EHR systems:
- EHR Systems: How many do we need?
- EHR Systems: Causing problems?
- Cloud-based EHR is the next step for the healthcare industry
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