Interoperability: keeping your medical records correct and confidential

Posted by: West Georgia Eye Care Center in Frontpage Article on August 7, 2015

A small-scale calamity with electronic medical records (EMRs) recently hit West Georgia Eye Care Center, and left us scrambling to capture information with a pen and paper. If you were a patient in our office during this episode, you probably heard our prolific apologies as we jotted down information to enter in the electronic files later when things were operational again.

We’re always trying to serve our patients better.It may be difficult to believe when the systems are “down,” but the EMR system is overwhelmingly safer and better than keeping hard copies of medical records. Experts from all levels of medicine and technology, including the federal government, agree that electronic medical records are in the patient’s best interest.

West Georgia Eye Care Center has a team of professionals dedicated to assuring your medical data is:

1.) Accurate

2.) Private

3.) Accessible*

*for you and for healthcare providers with whom you choose to share your records

Next week we will look at the third point above. The ability to access and share your medical records with other healthcare providers is called interoperability.

And it’s making news…