Does quality require that physicians purchase electronic medical records?
EMR technology is fast becoming the standard in medical care. Aside from enabling physicians to track and report quality measures, experts agree that EMRs increase the safety and effectiveness of patient care by enabling instantaneous sharing of a patient’s complete medical history among treating physicians. Medicare may require EMRs in the future, as part of its reimbursement model. The transfer to electronic records can be challenging. But those who have made the switch generally report that EMRs create far greater efficiency in the office, and most physicians say they would never want to go back to paper.
