Why Is It Possible to Create a Patient-Owned Medical Record Bank and How It Will Help to Reduce Costs and Improve the Quality of Healthcare?

Storing, managing and exchanging patient records has become an essential care delivery aspect in today’s healthcare ecosystem. Since the passage of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, numerous technological advancements have emerged supporting electronic health records capabilities. With instant access to the latest, most accurate patient data, healthcare providers can deliver high-caliber medical assistance in a timely manner and drastically improve patient outcomes. Furthermore, by having patient records at their disposal, healthcare organizations can enhance efficiency in care delivery processes and prevent overtreatment or low-quality care which results in healthcare spending waste and contributes to the ever-increasing healthcare expenditure in the US. Along with improved outcomes and enhanced efficiency and waste prevention, patient records have multiple other salient benefits for clinicians as well as patients. In this article, we will discuss the reasons for creating a patient-owned medical records bank and how it can improve healthcare outcomes and cut costs. 

Reasons to create a patient-owned health record bank

Allows physicians to understand the patient’s history

Any clinically-related patient data can help physicians make accurate treatment decisions and deliver targeted care. A patient’s medical history can serve as vital information and positively influence clinical decisions by revealing patterns that suggest their predisposition to an illness or the magnitude of the threat they can have from a particular disease. In general, a medical history includes past diagnosis records, past surgical history, family medical history, medication records and allergies. A patient’s medical history securely stored and regularly updated in a health records bank can provide clinicians deep insight into the medical conditions they are suffering from and whether they have any residual effects of their past illnesses. Additionally, it can also reveal any allergies or social issues like alcohol and drug use, sexual activities, etc., pertinent to a patient’s medical condition. A patient’s family medical history is another crucial piece of information that their medical history can show, allowing physicians to know about their genetic predisposition to certain illnesses. 

Reduces risk and negligence

Having up-to-date patient information accessible with a touch of a button through a medical records bank can enable physicians to eliminate risks of mistakes and malpractice. Patients can choose to electronically transmit their data from a medical records bank to their providers, allowing them to easily read and comprehend and prevent risks due to illegibility. It’s reported that 60% of medication errors in hospitals are attributed to poor handwriting. Furthermore, managing medication records using electronic health records is much more effective and can reduce events of adverse drugs by 52%. Medication reconciliation is important to prevent severe health risks arising due to improper medications and overdosage as well as financial losses resulting from unnecessary medication purchase. Additionally, with highly detailed patient data available for physicians at all times, the risk of negligence reduces drastically. 

Helps in assessment and treatment planning

Patient records stored in a medical records bank can be updated frequently with the latest developments in a patient’s condition. Advanced medical record banks like Health Wealth Safe’s health data records bank allow direct integrations with health tracking devices, meaning patient data is automatically updated in their records. Patients can share their records with their physicians, enabling them to best assess their medical state and make failsafe treatment decisions. Devising care plans and providing treatment recommendations is very convenient, fast, effective and efficient for healthcare providers using patient records shared via a medical records bank. 

How it will help to reduce costs and improve the quality of healthcare

Well-informed 

As mentioned earlier, health record banks store a patient’s entire medical history along with their up-to-date current healthcare data. Using these highly detailed, vast yet legible and comprehendible records, clinicians can make well-informed recommendations and develop accurate care plans, eventually improving outcomes. Similarly, the quality of the care delivered also significantly increases when highly detailed patient data backs treatment decisions. Physicians can precisely determine which areas need more medical attention owing to the granular patient data available at their disposal. It enables them to reach the core of the issue instead of merely providing palliative care. 

Improves communications and relationships

Patient healthcare records are a vital aspect of remote patient monitoring, which is gaining widespread traction as a more efficient and effective care delivery method. RPM is known to improve physician-patient relationships and enhance communications between the various stakeholders in a patient’s health. By leveraging remotely supplied, self-recorded patient data, RPM providers can deliver personalized recommendations and intervene as and when required, improving outcomes and driving engagement. With a medical records bank, RPM enrollees can easily maintain and share their self-recorded healthcare data from a single location and improve communications with their physicians, boosting their chances of recovery. 

Benefit in the workflow management system

The complex yet crucial process of patient data exchange and interchange in the healthcare delivery cycle can be optimized and made efficient using a medical records bank. Compatibility issues between various EHR systems can be eliminated if patients share data directly from their medical records bank. This would mean data sharing will become faster, more effective and more efficient, enabling care providers to deliver high-quality healthcare services quickly. Efficient workflow management will signify less waste and more overall healthcare expenditure savings. 

Conclusion

Health Wealth Safe, a full-service healthcare solutions provider, has recently introduced a novel patient-owned medical records bank. Patients can now seek a second opinion without contributing to medical material waste by simply furnishing data from their data bank account to their new healthcare consultant. Furthermore, unlike hospital or clinical EHR systems that dispose of patient data after a certain period, HWS’ medical records bank stores your data forever. Additionally, since HWS’ medical records bank is patient-owned, data security is never an issue and only patients decide who to share their information with. If you want to know more about the products and services we offer as well as our medical records bank, reach out to us now.