What is a web-based EHR?
The choice of an electronic health record (EHR) solution can make a significant difference to an independent physician’s practice. The EHR is designed to ensure the physician has access to patients’ medical information, can collaborate with other physicians, and has the communication tools necessary to follow up with patients after the visit. The choice also involves deciding whether the independent practice will use a web-based EHR.
The web-based EHR is cloud-based, meaning it does not use an internal server. With cloud-based EHR systems, data is stored on external servers and can be accessed with any device that has an internet connection, while server-based EHR systems store data within the practice on a personal server.
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Cloud-based EHR systems actually solve many of the issues that independent physicians may be concerned about when choosing to adopt an EHR system. In server-based EHR systems, thousands of dollars are often spent to install and implement a server, hardware, and software. Additionally, regular maintenance and management from a local IT department is also needed. In contrast, web-based EHR systems are already established by a software as a service (SAAS) provider, meaning the expense of money and time diminishes dramatically.
As a recent article in the AJMC points out, “With cloud-based systems, physicians don’t have to worry about system meltdowns, natural disasters or weather patterns that can literally crash systems in a horrifying blink of the eye. Backup requirements, protocols and capabilities with traditional EHR/EMR systems are not always as secure nor provide safeguards. Patient data stored on the cloud will always be there, accessible from anywhere and at any time.”
Security concerns, particularly about patient confidentiality, are addressed by the cloud-based server’s careful and tactical efforts (such as conducting risk analyses, encrypting data, etc.) in order to assure that a patient’s medical data is kept safe and private. The 1996 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) helped to insure and protect the confidentiality and security of healthcare information. Included in this “healthcare information” are patients’ electronic protected health information (ePHI). Consequently, this type of data must be heavily safeguarded.
The convenience of a web-based system manifests itself in the independent physician’s ability to access patient data from virtually anywhere. Cloud-based EHRs offer a range of advantages for independent physicians who would rather focus on patient care instead of having to worry about hardware and software issues.
