When Hurricane Sandy slammed into the East Coast, many physicians learned the benefits of electronic health records (EHRs) in ensuring safety of patient records. In the storm’s wake, as patients bounced between hospitals and other care facilities, EHRs have been critical for a continuity of care. Health IT allowed physicians to be prepared for on-site safety, off-site data and accessibility.
The harrowing process of treating Sandy victims was made much smoother by the fact that patients’ electronic health records were secure and readily accessible.
MedCity News stated, “Hurricane Sandy proves the value of health IT infrastructure, state info exchanges.” Healthcare IT systems were tested after the storm and proved to be needed. With events this large it is important to have the ability to aid when patients are moving to facilities not necessarily familiar to them.
This was not the first time EHRs proved value, seven years ago Hurricane Katrina demonstrated the need for health IT and digital health records after many paper-based records were lost. Hurricane Sandy is further proving the importance of having a health information exchange in emergency situations.
To learn more about switching your practice to Electronic Health Records, call us at 800-959-1906 or visit http://www.ncgmedical.com/.
