The following article is submitted by guest writer Dereke Jones, specializing in Information Technology and Services. He is a former Program Coordinator at Ohio Services Unlimited
Lots of physicians work in a hybrid (paper & emr) environment as they transition to electronic records. After patient discharge that paper record is usually scanned into an electronic document capture system. The record is then made available electronically after quantitative and qualitative analysis have been performed. The action taken with paper records after that point may differ according to the retention standards of the facility.
Features of an SAAS (Software as a service) allow electronic medical record transition in which users may begin with the system in no time. This is because implementations are internet-based and applications are deployed directly from the saas data center.
Through saas implementations EMR transitions are fairly quick and painless. Now, transitions through an ASP (Application service provider) are slow due to borrowed commercial software from other providers. This may be the difference between the paper trails and the seamless transition and immediate EMR functionality.
There is no difference in usability between saas and asp models once they are implemented, but implementation itself is not the same. Saas is known to be the less time consuming method and I am not saying that asp models can not be implemented quickly because it is possible with the correct IT support. Generally asp being installed anywhere near as fast as saas applications are simply not the case and yes implementation for both is big operations. Getting appropriate data to doctors and combining treatment and workflow are some of the core functions of the EMR itself and these things should be possible without paper once EMR is up and running. Although paper records may no longer be necessary, some physicians may keep them in use until they are completely comfortable with their new system.
Saas is known to be the less time consuming method and I am not saying that asp models can not be implemented quickly because it is possible with the correct IT support. Generally asp being installed anywhere near as fast as saas applications are simply not the case and yes implementation for both is big operations. Getting appropriate data to doctors and combining treatment and workflow are some of the core functions of the EMR itself and these things should be possible without paper once EMR is up and running. Although paper records may no longer be necessary, some physicians may keep them in use until they are completely comfortable with their new system.
