Table 3.

Benefits of EMRs for Oncology Practices

EHRs can help oncologists perform many tasks more effectively:

Patient care: Enter physician orders • Make use of computerized support systems for decision-making • Prevent drug interactions and improve compliance • Provide our patients with access to their health records, disease management tools and health information resources • Reduce errors of omission and commission through the provision of reminders and alerts • Use clinical guidelines in a timely fashion • Use examples of best practices

Research and analysis: • Analyze patterns of cancer care given • Document both our clinical rationale and the service lines that we have provided • Measure and benchmark the quality of care provided • Manage and understand the clinical information we collect • Facilitate data collection for clinical trials • Provide a variety of ways to view the same data (such as in free text, database or flow chart formats) • Provide standards-based electronic data storage and reporting (to support efforts in the areas of patient safety and disease surveillance)

Financial matters: • Add financial value to “scrubbed” clinical data • Participate in “pay for use” and “pay for quality” initiatives • Employ computerized tools designed to streamline scheduling, claims, and the handling of insurance matters • Ensure secure electronic communication between provider and patient

Fulfillment of general informational needs: • Provide access to updated and archived medical information in multiple care settings • Utilize information from the Internet rapidly, whenever needs arise