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Why Keeping Patient Record Management Secure Is Important?

Electronic medical records comprise a digital repository of patients’ clinical data collected during diagnosis and prognosis. Healthcare experts gather them through clinical notes and maintain the same digitally, which serves convenience for future medical references.

Check out this blog to learn about the vitality of maintaining patients’ records securely. Learn more about how patient record management software can help doctors seamlessly track old clinical data without the hassle of lengthy paperwork or to depend on the hard copy for reference.

How Electronic Medical Records Keep Patients’ Data Secure?

Unlike manual paperwork, where clinical data is vulnerable to piracy, theft, and tampering, digital patient records add a new dimension of convenience.

Most hospitals and large private clinical practices are slowly embracing the perks of electronic medical records for the following reasons. It includes:

  • Complete digital access to the existing clinical history of data.
  • Secure handling of data otherwise restricted to healthcare professionals with clearance.
  • Digital data is tamper-proof and keeps it safe from unauthorized amendments.
  • Patients’ clinical records are easily trackable, making the slightest change visible.
  • Available clinical data helps doctors treat non-state patients’ without depending on hard copies of clinical records.

Why Confidentiality Of Patients’ Clinical Records Has Paramount Vitality?

A patient’s clinical record comprises more than their overall health history. It includes their social security details and information that can lead to financial fraud or other serial offenses without the owner’s discretion.

Secure maintenance of patient medical records is a part of clinical ethics well described by primum non-nocere. Here are the following reasons why patient data confidentiality matters:

  • Most patients depend on their healthcare specialists for every clinical decision. Any lapse of confidential information can lead to malpractice and breach of trust.
  • The leak of patients’ clinical data can make them vulnerable to getting targeted by potential fraud.
  • It can lead to unwarranted health insurance scams where the patient might get dupped on the pretext of deceptive clinical advice.
  • Any unauthorized access to electronic medical records can compromise the potential data of millions of patients, leading to devastating consequences.

How To Ensure Foolproof Patient Medical Record Safety?

Unlike manually filled clinical data locked away in the repository, maintenance of electronic medical records requires robust surveillance. Since a digital archive is virtually accessible to anyone with valid credentials, it can lead to unauthorized access without essential security measures.

Check out what practices can help you prevent potential lapses:

  • Restrict login authorization among healthcare professionals, and make it a need to know only basis.
  • Ensure no alternative digital devices to communicate or connect with patients and other healthcare professionals regarding work.
  • Monitor healthcare experts providing remote consultation.
  • Maintain surveillance feed of daily activities to track all healthcare workers accessing electronic medical records.
  • Ensure your server master tracks all activities on the patient management software to detect any malicious activities.
  • Encourage patients to communicate only through the patient management application for enhanced privacy and security.
Hippa in EMR

What Practices Can Lead To Leakage Of Electronic Medical Records?

While prevention is better than cure, unavoidable circumstances often lead to a potential breach of electronic medical records.

Here are some ill practices to know and prohibit to prevent embarrassing data leaks. It includes:

  • Restrict work PC or platform (active firewall) from accessing usual internet browsing and activities like online games, social media, and adult content. It can leave the device vulnerable to potential trojan infections leaving the entire server compromised.
  • Discourage healthcare professionals from discussing patient cases outside work or exchanging clinical reports over instant messaging.
  • Ensure all the devices have disabled USB or non-functional nearby connectivity to prevent forced intrusion.

How Can A Patient Record Management Software Ensure Confidentiality?

A patient record management software is the optimized interface that brings all patient-physician interaction in one place. Also known as EMS or EHR, it comprises managing physician availability to track patients.

Here’s more about this clinical workflow management interface:
  • Helps healthcare professionals track patients based on priority.
  • Provides a detailed overview of the workforce availability with adequate information on incoming patients (helps the physician manage work-life balance).
  • One platform for onboarding to billing, making it seamless to track all clinical operations whenever required.
  • It reduces diagnosis time thanks to instant access to preloaded patient medical records.
  • Reduces paper wastage from maintaining hard copies while ensuring patients’ clinical history stays safe.
Conclusion

Electronic medical records have eased patient-physician interaction and helped reduce the severe workload of healthcare professionals. Features like instant clinical record access or the benefits of telemedicine are complimentary with EMR software. 

Whether a private clinic or an expanding nursing home, the benefits of patient record management software reduces the need to hire added work staff from manual entry and eliminates the scope of a potential data breach.

Need state-of-the-art patient medical record software? Healthplix offers best-in-class AI-driven EMR catering to over 10,000+ physicians across 16+ specialties in 14 languages. Let technology troubleshoot the clinical paperwork, leaving doctors to treat at their best.

For more information, please visit our website.

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