Electronic medical records can offer several benefits over traditional paper-based medical records, but they also have some drawbacks. The following are the key advantages and disadvantages of using EMR in our clinical setting.

Benefits: It allows users to access patient information in real time so that the efficiency of healthcare providers is improved significantly by receiving and updating patient information with less downtime. By using EMR, hard files of patient registrations and records can be replaced as those used to take up huge physical space and have to be protected to safeguard privacy. It minimises handwriting errors and missing data records by alerting users of incomplete data.

Drawbacks: Initiating an EMR system at the beginning can be costly in terms of investment in software, hardware, training, and maintenance expenses. Staff are required to undergo comprehensive training before initiating the project which would hinder the existing workflow and cause extra workload. After a few months, well-trained staff could be a shortage in the organisation due to the high staff turnover rate. The last one concerns the confidentiality issue that was raised by the patients when the electronic system recorded their health information. Some patients are concerned that their identifications and health information can be breached and shared with other organisations without proper notice.