With all of the back-and-forth debates, delays and general confusion over initiatives like Meaningful Use and ICD-10, it can be all too easy to forget just why exactly the healthcare industry is racing toward more widespread EHRs in the first place. But the value of properly implemented and optimized health records among small practices and large hospitals alike speaks for itself: Improved patient care experiences, more accurate diagnoses and medical histories, easily shared and accessed information, even lower care costs. The need for a health record system that can account for all of these factors is becoming increasingly more important as the Baby Boomer generation grows older, sending more Americans into their elderly years, which, for many of them, will mean necessary long-term care services.

The senior care sector of the healthcare industry will only be taking in more and more patients in the years ahead, making the adoption of effective EHR software not only an advantage, but a necessity. As EHR Intelligence notes, here are just a few of the benefits that an optimized EHR system can bring to the table for improving long-term senior care experiences:

• Patient-centric care: The best chiropractic EHR software doesn't just improve a practice's logistical needs, but helps to put the patient first and deliver a more rewarding experience for them. Senior care centers can especially benefit from this kind of system by using EHRs to track patients' medical information and ensure that diagnoses are made with the most relevant and up-to-date information available.
• Workflow mobility and total connectivity: The advent of mobile and cloud computing means that doctors and practitioners have an easier time of not only accessing patient information, but communicating with one another for either answering questions or disseminating more pertinent data. For example, if a nurse is having trouble assessing a certain patient and requires a doctor's help, sending a quick (and secure) text message to the physician in question allows for more expedient answers that also: a) don't rely on the doctor sitting at a computer, and b) remove any of the human errors associated with paper records. 

"As the healthcare industry evolves, there will be a greater need for interoperability which will enable providers to make the best decisions for the resident and/or patient to support transitions of care across the care continuum," EHR Intelligence writes. "Long-term care providers must become better integrated, better connected and more streamlined with their partners in care."

Regardless of which field you practice in, implementing and utilizing an integrated chiropractic EHR system helps to both streamline your office's recordkeeping needs while creating more efficient results for patients.