The Electronic Health Record (EHR) is a digital tool that centralizes a patient’s medical data, enhancing the quality of care and the efficiency of the healthcare system. It offers numerous advantages, such as quick access to patient information for caregivers and improved care coordination and effectiveness. However, it also presents challenges in terms of data security and interoperability. The future of the EHR is marked by innovation and a revolution in care, particularly through artificial intelligence and connected devices.
In Concrete Terms, What Is An Electronic Health Record (EHR)?
The Electronic Health Record (EHR) is a digital version of the traditional medical record. It contains all relevant information about a patient’s health, including:
- Medical history,
- Allergies,
- Ongoing treatments or medical procedures,
- Prescriptions,
- Test results.
The EHR centralizes and organizes this data in a secure, confidential, and accessible manner for healthcare providers, thereby facilitating the work of healthcare professionals. The EHR covers all hospital specialties.
Unlike paper records, the Electronic Health Record (EHR) allows for real-time updates and quick access to information, no matter where you are. This means that wherever a patient receives care, their medical history is instantly available to authorized practitioners, enabling faster and more effective treatment. It can also be updated by different healthcare providers simultaneously, as they have secure access to the EHR at the same time.
Electronic Health Record: its benefits
There are a lot:
- Better quality care ➡️
Quick and complete access to a patient’s medical history allows healthcare professionals to better understand the patient’s health background and avoid medical errors. Treatments are better personalized to meet the specific needs of the patient. (For example, an emergency physician can immediately access vital information, even in the case of unconsciousness, to perform crucial procedures in an emergency situation). - Efficiency and time-saving ➡️
Data accessible in just a few clicks obviously frees up time for healthcare providers. They can focus more on patient care rather than administrative tasks, for example. It’s worth noting that automatically generated electronic prescriptions reduce the risk of errors related to transcription or misinterpretation of handwritten prescriptions. - Better care coordination ➡️
A major advantage, and not a minor one, is the ability to share information among different healthcare professionals without it getting lost. For example, a general practitioner, a specialist, and a pharmacist can all access the same information, ensuring consistency and continuity of care. With a physical paper record, simultaneous access is not possible. - Security and confidentiality ➡️ Paper records can easily be stolen, lost, damaged, or completely destroyed. EHRs, on the other hand, are generally secured by encryption protocols and secure access. With digital security being a crucial issue in healthcare, modern EHR systems like Galeon’s are designed to protect patient confidentiality and ensure data integrity.
Electronic Health Record: its challenges
- Interoperability ➡️
One of the main challenges of the EHR is the interoperability between different systems used by hospitals, clinics, and healthcare professionals. It is essential that these systems can communicate with each other so that data can be shared seamlessly. Establishing common standards is therefore a priority to ensure the maximum effectiveness of the EHR. - Training and Adoption ➡️
The transition to a computerized system can be complex. Healthcare providers can be easily unsettled by new working techniques, especially when they involve digital tools. It is therefore essential to closely support the change and provide reassurance through adequate training programs and physical presence during software deployments in hospital departments. - Data Protection ➡️
Medical data confidentiality is a major concern. Cyberattacks targeting healthcare systems have increased in recent years, making it imperative to implement robust measures to protect EHRs. This includes establishing strong cybersecurity protocols and strict policies on data access, which unfortunately are not always effective… - Cost and Infrastructure ➡️
Implementing an EHR can be a significant challenge for a hospital, especially if the facility has limited resources. It requires a substantial investment in terms of technology, training, and maintenance. However, the long-term benefits, both in terms of cost savings and quality of care, more than justify this investment.
What does the future hold for the Electronic Health Record from a healthcare perspective?
It is (very) promising with developments such as:
- Greater interoperability,
- Enhanced data security,
- Integration of artificial intelligence to improve diagnostics and personalized care,
- A foundation for the development of future healthcare through big data.
The EHR could also facilitate access to remote care, strengthen collaboration among healthcare professionals, and improve health data management.
Why is Galeon Electronic Health Record really revolutionizing hospitals?
First, it’s important to note that the Galeon software is ergonomic in its usability and readability. It is also fast in its execution with each click by the healthcare provider, saving them valuable time during consultations.
With just a few clicks, patient information is readily available and clearly readable. Medical procedures performed by the provider are also standardized according to international codes such as ICD-10, SNOMED-CT, LOINC, RxNorm… (This is indeed an interesting feature for hospitals, which can finally review their activities at a glance).
Of course, all this information remains confidential and protected for the patient’s well-being, with security being a top priority within the EHR, even when records are interoperable between medical centers. Galeon is HDS certified and holds ISO 27001 certification from Afnor.
So… Galeon, a revolution? Yes, and for a number of reasons. Let’s take a look:
- A structured and standardized data:
The information found in Galeon is the same across every hospital using the software. It is ‘organized’ for standardized data use. This data is embedded in the system as pre-filled information, with buttons that the healthcare provider simply needs to click. Practically, this means that they don’t need to manually input information (or very rarely). There is minimal data entry, no double entry, and therefore less risk of omissions or errors in the patient’s record. Most importantly, it saves a significant amount of time, allowing for more personalized medicine. - Decentralized training of AI algorithms to truly advance medical research:
Indeed, if data is organized everywhere, it can be collected in large quantities, analyzed, and processed much more easily than if it had to be sorted and organized beforehand (which is unfortunately the case in most situations today). With Galeon, the data is already prepared to be analyzed using artificial intelligence, bringing efficiency back to both science and healthcare. Of course, the data is secure, and once anonymized with the patient’s consent, AI algorithms can be trained on it in a decentralized manner through Galeon’s proprietary Blockchain Swarm Learning technology. This allows algorithms to learn from thousands of anonymized data points to quickly recognize specific pathologies, clinical cases, etc. Medical research is thus propelled into a new era, powered by AI, enabling community-driven medicine and paving the way for the next stage: predictive medicine. - Increased security through the use of Blockchain:
Galeon connects hospitals using its software through its Blockchain technology. This ensures data confidentiality and patient protection while continuing to leverage the value of health data and combating daily cyberattacks. In fact, Galeon has already withstood two cyberattacks and has received two Innovation Awards at CES Las Vegas in 2024. - Galeon is more than just software; it’s a community of healthcare Pioneers aiming to make a difference
Through its Decentralized Science (DeSci) project, Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO), and its cryptocurrency $GALEON, an entire community comes together to advance medicine. The community, which invests in the project and holds at least one Galeon token, can vote to fund important non-profit healthcare projects that have the potential to change the future—and more importantly, the present.
It’s the Galeon hospitals that speak best about the Galeon Electronic Health Record!
Visit our whitepaper if you want to know more on the topic.
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