Pediatricians call for commitment to EMRs
AAP. Pediatrics; 2011:127:978-982.
The American Academy of Pediatrics has formally backed
universal implementation of electronic medical records for pediatric patients
and called for federal health officials to provide funding for electronic
medical record conversions.
The AAP said adopting electronic medical records (EMRs)
would enable young patients to keep track of their immunizations and illnesses
during the course of their lives, as well as enabling physicians to
“translate evidence into actionable clinical decision support, and reuse
archived clinical data for continuous quality improvement.”
AAP officials said EMRs in medical homes are a
particularly important organizing tool for managing the health care of children
because they help to centralize information, which is important for pediatric
patients, who tend to move around, and others who often require different
specialists for care.
“Real-time availability of patient information from
the medical home to other entities requires the establishment of secure and
compliant health care information communications networks,” the AAP said
in its statement.
AAP officials said there are a few hurdles that must be
overcome, including the establishment of universal system that will allow easy
sharing of records, as well as confidentiality questions. Financial
uncertainty, information security and resistance from practitioners are other
hurdles that will also have to be overcome in the future.
Disclosures: The researchers report no relevant financial
disclosures.