eMRimaging™ harmony between the paper and electronic format
Many EMR systems fail to achieve their objective of increasing clinical efficiency. The reason: programmers have developed complex, electronic data entry methods that require clicking through a multitude of menus and often require too much time to enter a simple encounter. They fail to realize that paper can often be the most efficient format to document certain events. Unlike other EMR systems that claim a total digital transformation, eMRimaging™ is not an all-or-nothing proposition. eMRimaging™ creates an electronic solution that integrates with the paper in a clinic, rather than attempts to replace it.

When considering EMR systems, you must take into account where your practice wants to realize increased efficiencies. We suggest analyzing whether or not it is more efficient to use paper or an electronic document for each process within your working environment. For example, when quickly jotting down last minute reminders or notes, paper is often the preferred format. However, at some time in its life cycle, a paper document becomes a more strategic resource when it is converted into an electronic format. An EMR system should provide the flexibility to use both paper and the electronic format harmoniously. It should target specific areas for electronic conversion to realize increased efficiencies, but should also allow other areas to be left alone.

The following accounts illustrate how paper should still play an important role with electronic medical records, and how physicians demand flexibility with an EMR solution:

Quotes from a forum on EMR systems
Dr. Mark Singh MD:  "No matter what people say, it is quicker to handwrite a note or to dictate than to us an EMR system in many if not most cases ..... Also for message taking, it is still easiest to use a paper message slip to take down a message and act on it."

S. David Ahn MD:  "You can't have something for nothing. If you want better documentation and legibility, you have to sacrifice time."

Jonathan Bertman:  "It actually SLOWED DOWN my documenting! This was mostly due to multiple points and clicks required to enter data correctly. What ends up happening, is one tends to bypass entering data "the right way" and instead you just type free text into miscellaneous note fields. This is what I ended up doing, and when I looked at the notes of my six other colleagues, I found they were all entering data the same way .…. This is the main problem with many EMR programs: there are so many bells & whistles & menus & clicking that it takes too much time to enter a simple encounter."

If these physicians were using eMRimaging™, they could have easily adapted it to fit their individual preferences. For example, Dr. Singh could continue to use paper to handwrite a patient encounter, dictate his notes and then later scan the records into the system. This would allow immediate access to the records for the entire office from their workstation PCs. To have better documentation and legibility, Dr Ahn could have used electronic templates from our eMRimaging™ system to document the patient encounter, each designed to replicate the paper form with which he was already comfortable. Dr. Bertman could have used a combination of electronic templates and dictation with our system. He could use templates to document basic information with simple check boxes and drop down menus, while dictation could input his assessment and plan (that would later be added to the patient encounter after each transcription).

The bottom line is that an EMR system should not force a change in the way a physician wants to practice medicine. Physicians are often more comfortable with paper, and as it still plays a critical role in a practice, an EMR system should provide the flexibility to readily incorporate paper documentation. eMRimaging™ provides such a solution: it incorporates paper seamlessly, it is flexible enough to meet the varying needs of everyone within a medical practice, and it does not force a total digital conversion that often interrupts a physician's modus operandi. More than often, physicians are compromising their mode of practice with database EMR systems on the market today. That is why we developed an imaging-based EMR system that puts the control back into your hands.