Electronic medical records cut costs and helps medical facilities to provide quality healthcare to patients

Electronic medical records have been a cornerstone of the successful health care formula prescribed by Dr. Richard Merkin, CEO for Heritage Provider Network. HPN and its 25 medical facilities in California and Healthcare Partners IPA in New York have been eliminating waste and cutting costs while providing quality healthcare to their patients for the past 30 years by focusing on the importance of integrating electronic medical records.

Decades ahead of the current health care debate, HPN falls into the 15% of those in the United States who use electronic medical records, compared to other western countries where there is 95% usage. Dr. Anthony Dulgeroff, assistant medical director at High Desert Medical Group, part of the HPN family, believes "wider adoption of electronic medical records keeping gives physicians quicker access to a broad field of data about a patient." Adding further, " it keeps patients out of the hospital therefore cutting down costs to the medical system and the patient."

Dr. Dulgeroff continued, "Whether it is heart failure, diabetic conditions or emphysema, or all of those together, in the modern age, we want to have all the specialists using the same systems so patients don't end up in the hospital." Storing medical records online vs. hand written charts in filing cabinets is faster, gives a wide variety of physicians instant access to the patients' history and is highly cost effective."

"HPN has recognized the critical importance of electronic medical records to assist the patient in immediate, thorough and comprehensive medical care for the past 30 years," said Dr. Richard Merkin. "The savings are passed on to the patient and enable us to manage their care in an accountable way."

"To improve the quality of our health care while lowering its cost, we will make the immediate investments necessary to ensure that, within five years, all of America's medical records are computerized," President Obama said earlier this year. "This will cut waste, eliminate red tape and reduce the need to repeat expensive medical tests."