Question

Describe the advantages and disadvantages of the different ways to format a medical record and why is this analysis important before designing a health record or contracting with someone to provide such a service?

Answer 1

Formatting anything before it is presented in front of the audience is a very important positive aspect in any field to be practised . Same way on healthcare sector we use medical records in which each and every detail regarding the care provided to the patient is manually or electronically entered and is kept safe for future use.

There are many formats for a medico-legal report . The type or style of format depends upon the individual taste /personal preference and on the requirements of the legal process or according to the policy of institution/ hospital .

Advantages of formatting a medical record are :-

- in a well organised way data is captured.

- user friendly

- focus on every important points

- less time to fill the data

- more options available

- simple language usage

- provides a summary about the condition of patient.

Disadvantages of formatting a medical record are:-

- costly

- accessibility is less

- increase maintainance work for the designer and staffs using it .

- takes more time to download when electronic medical record is used.

- more storage space is required for electronic medical records

- some times the data is not properly saved due to more digital storage space requirements.

Analysing all the advantages and disadvantages of formatting a medical record is very important process before designing a health record or contracting with someone to provide such a service because when we are aware of the needs or what we require in a medical record along with having a view of the pros and cons of the different formats like for example - is it cheap , how much storage is required ,is it user friendly , will it involve all important heading etc ., it becomes easier for the designer to design or format a medical record which include all the vital parts necessary in a medical record in a cheap and affordable way and will provide a overview or summary of the patient's condition in a simple way.