Reprinted from Medical Economics Sept.16, 2005: "50 Reasons to get an EHR" (Electronic Health Record) Better access to data: 1. Pull a patient chart within seconds rather than minutes. 2. Never waste time looking for a chart. 3. Open a patient's chart on any computer in the office. 4. Have two or more people work with a chart at the same time. 5. Have clinical data at your fingertips when a consulting or referring physician calls. 6. Open the patient's chart on a wireless computer when you see him in the hospital. 7. Access a patient's chart online when he calls you at home at 2 a.m. Better charting: 8. Never worry about illegible handwriting (your malpractice carrier and local pharmacists will be happy). 9. Have patients complete a computer-guided medical history at home or in your office that downloads into the EHR. 10. Update medication and problem lists with every visit. 11. Import lab results, diagnostic images, and hospital discharge summaries into the patient's record. 12. Create flow sheets and graphs for any kind of data—blood pressure, HbA1c, pediatric height and weight, etc. 13. Tap thousands of procedure and diagnosis codes—far more than a paper charge ticket can display. Better care management: 14. Track pending orders for lab tests and diagnostic imaging—those that are long overdue may signal lost reports or patient noncompliance. 15. Receive automatic reminders in the exam room when a patient is due for preventive or disease-management services. 16. Link to evidence-based guidelines for diagnosing and treating conditions as you talk to the patient. 17. Quickly produce a list of all female patients over 21 who haven't had a Pap test in the past three years (or any time frame you choose, based on age and type of Pap test). Then ask these patients to make an appointment. 18. Print patient handouts in the exam room. 19. Print a copy of the progress note and give it to the patient at the end of the visit. Or put his entire record on a mini "thumb" drive that he can take home. 20. Provide consulting physicians with a list of lab results and current medications by e-mailing or faxing the data directly from the computer. Better prescribing: 21. Spend less time talking to pharmacists with questions about what you've written. 22. Fax prescriptions from your computer to the pharmacy instead of handing them to patients, who might lose or alter them. 23. Reissue prescriptions with a few mouse clicks. 24. Reduce the number of prescribing mistakes by receiving electronic alerts on drug interactions, allergies, and other situations where you should exercise caution. 25. Identify all your patients who are taking a recalled drug within minutes. 26. Verify compliance with insurance-company formularies incorporated into the EHR. Greater efficiency: 27. Review a summary of the patient's health information at a glance instead of flipping through pages. 28. Stay on top of your work with an electronic to-do list that includes incoming lab, radiology, and pathology reports as well as in-office messages and telephone calls. 29. Reduce phone tag: When patients call, answer their questions immediately instead of pulling the paper chart and calling them back. 30. Produce referral letters, school and work excuses, and other documents with a few clicks. 31. Send messages to your nurse without leaving the exam room or hollering down the hallway. 32. Reduce staff downtime at the copy machine: When you need to share records with someone, transmit them electronically. 33. Automate the way you report childhood immunizations to state-mandated registries. 34. Order lab tests and diagnostic imaging with a few mouse clicks. 35. Get claims out the door faster by sending encounter information, including diagnostic and CPT codes, straight to your practice-management software. Lower costs: 36. Save $10,000 or more per doctor per year on dictation and transcription costs. 37. Eliminate positions for file clerks and transcriptionists. 38. Save several thousand dollars a year on paper-chart supplies. 39. Download ECG readings directly into the patient chart and save even more on paper. 40. Spend less on postage by transmitting charts electronically. 41. Build a satellite office without a file room. Higher income: 42. Qualify for "pay for performance" bonuses by tracking the care you provide and the outcomes you achieve for various groups of patients. 43. Capture all your charges automatically as you record what you do. 44. Reassign your transcriptionist and file clerk to help collect accounts receivable. 45. Confidently code for higher levels of service based on thorough documentation. 46. Get automatic suggestions for E&M coding based on your documentation. A more robust practice 47. Convert your file room into an extra exam room. 48. Gain an edge in recruiting doctors fresh out of residency who've grown up using computers. 49. Retain topnotch staffers who otherwise would be burned out by the chaos of paper charts. 50. Impress patients by demonstrating that you run a modern, cutting-edge practice.