A computerized system is a system that has information from all doctors that have worked on a patient over the years of their lives. It would be a system that could have all the information needed for a patient in any hospital all over the world. This information could be crucial in helping to save someone’s life. For example, a patient who comes in who is unconscious could be allergic to a medication that is needed to be administered to the patient. If we do not have any information on this patient then it is going to be very difficult to learn about this allergy without actually attempting to use the medication. However if we have a universal health system, then by using information like a social security number, we could have figured this information out with no problem. Electronic medical records are records that are available for all clinical doctors and hospital workers to see. These documents tell a doctor about the patient’s history of surgery and basic information regarding medication allergies and history of their lives. “Electronic medical records also help keep records of health information that patients tend to forget with time, i.e. inoculations, previous illnesses and medications.(Electronic Medical Records)” This information is vital to knowing how to treat patients. For example, if a patient has already had a vaccination in the past there is no need to give the patient the same vaccination. By having this universal system that allows all doctors to see the information, there are going to be fewer issues because of lack of information based on patients lack or inability to give the information. “Substantial benefits realizable through routine use of electronic medical records include improved quality, safety, and efficiency, along with increased ability to conduct education and research (Bates)”. This shows that electronic medical records are useful for many reasons not just for information necessities. They are extremely beneficial to doctors and nurses and could save some people’s lives.
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D W Bates, Ebell Mark, et all. “A Proposal for Electronic Medical Records in U.S. Primary Care,” Journal of American Medical Informatics Association no 10 (2003).
