Much has been written in FPM about the benefits and costs of electronic health records (EHRs). In view of the natural disasters that have affected many of our colleagues recently, I would like to point out a benefit of EHRs that hasn’t been discussed much: disaster management. If I had to evacuate in the face of a hurricane, I could put in my pocket eight years of medical records for all 5,000 of my practice’s patients. If there were a fire at my office tonight, I would not lose a single record because the backup tape would be safe with me at home. This kind of security is priceless.
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