Electronic health records (EHRs) and employer site clinics

Efficiency, convenience, and secure patient data are essential elements for employer on-site clinics. Employers who provide on-site clinics to their employees do so as an added benefit to attract quality candidates and as a way to help their employees stay healthy. Employers also benefit from the reduced absenteeism among employees who have convenient access to healthcare and from the cost savings of providing on-site health benefits.

In fact, a study published recently by the Online Journal of Issues in Nursing found that employer on-site clinics “provide cost-effective, quality healthcare to employees, as they provide services targeted to the needs of the workforce.” Preventative care, diagnostic services, and treatment of illness and injury are some of the basic services provided by these clinics. They may also work with the employer to provide fitness or nutrition classes to further improve employees’ health.

On-site clinics that use electronic health records (EHRs) to maintain their employee medical records provide an even greater benefit. Employees expect the clinics to be efficient. One of the main attractions of an on-site clinic is that it can be a time saver for busy workers.

EHRs enable the healthcare provider to view patient information, including visit notes, lab results, and prescriptions, with one touch. Likewise, communication between patient and physician as well as between multiple providers is seamless and secure in an EHR.

An on-site provider can easily collaborate with other providers using EHRs. Many employees may use the on-site clinic as their primary provider. When they see specialty providers, all of the physicians involved in the employee’s care are able to view important information input by each healthcare provider.

Likewise, employees may have a primary care provider but use the on-site clinic for visits specific to an illness or injury. In those cases, the clinic physician can input visit notes and test results for the employee’s primary care physician to view.

Of course, all of this data is secure and HIPAA-compliant. EHRs comply with the regulations shielding electronic protected health information (ePHI). In fact, secure electronic systems minimize the possibility of compromising ePHI by protecting against virus infections, hacking breaches, and third parties trying to steal patient health information.