The Importance of Using NLP for Electronic Health and Medical Records

For the handwritten documents, we should scan the records to save them electronically. But the question is how does one use the “unstructured” and “non-standardized” in digital records? NLP (natural language processing) techniques can seize unstructured information, examine the grammatical shape, decide the meaning of the data, and summarize the information. As a result, NLP techniques can decrease expenses and extract ample data analytics information in-depth.
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Ananya Avasthi
March 24, 2022
Published on
March 24, 2022
November 12, 2021
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An electronic health record (EHR) can simply be described as a system that contains a collection of datasets regarding the patients’ medical records. This information may be shared across specific health care settings. Records are shared via network-linked, enterprise-extensive records structures or different information networks and exchanges. EHRs may also consist of a range of information, including demographics, clinical records, medication and allergies, immunization status, laboratory test results, radiology images, crucial signs and symptoms, non-public records like age and weight, and billing records.


Electronic health records (EHRs) have been revered as a key to increasing high-quality care for numerous decades. Electronic health records are used for different purposes than charting for patients; nowadays, companies use patient data records to enhance excellent results via their care management programs. EHR combines all patient demographics right into a massive pool and uses these statistics to assist with new remedies or innovations in healthcare delivery, which improves healthcare goals. Combining several kinds of clinical statistics from the system's health information has helped clinicians pick out and stratify chronically sick patients. EHR can enhance quality care with the aid of using data and analytics to order to protect oneself from hospitalizations amongst high-risk patients.


NLP and EHRs go hand in hand

Health reports and medical information is often in unstructured and non-standardized formats in digital healthcare structures. And much remains in handwritten documents. For the handwritten documents, we should scan the records to save them electronically. But the question is how does one use the “unstructured” and “non-standardized” in digital records? NLP (natural language processing) techniques can seize unstructured information, examine the grammatical shape, decide the meaning of the data and summarize the information. As a result, NLP techniques can decrease expenses and extract ample data analytics information in-depth.


The Right Type of Patient for Clinical Trials

It is essential to recruit the correct type of patients for a brand new clinical trial. The patient pool that is being used for the trial must have patients with similar symptoms and conditions, for example, “male patients who have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia within the final five years and aren't presently on any prescribed medicinal drugs.” Conventional strategies should screen charts manually. If it is an unprecedented ailment, the quantity of available patients is even smaller. E-Screening to discover patient cohorts may be substantially effective and meet research requirements. In recent years, genome-wide research projects have dramatically boosted. Patient phenotype retrieval, the retrieval for the set of observable traits (diagnosis, symptoms, signs, and interventions) of a person due to its genotype with the surroundings, raises the demand for EHRs that is powered with the aid of NLP.

Bringing the Data out Visually

Clinicians need to examine via several reports of a patient to draw close essential previous medical records. The medical records will contain a chart that evaluates procedure that typically requires Registered Nurse (RN) expertise. To speed up the chart evaluation process, NLP is utilized to summarize and visualize records for the chart evaluation so clinicians can quickly draw close the patient's medical records.

Improving Treatment Quality

The capability to alternate health records electronically throughout unique systems can assist healthcare providers in improving care for patients. It allows smooth admission to patient records. It streamlines coding and billing. Companies can diagnose patients more efficiently and decrease clinical errors.

Assisting in Administrative Tasks

Usually, a doctor’s visit for the patient is never a one-time visit: Follow-ups are common. To determine where a follow-up is needed, NLP may extract vital information from the reports and construct patient profiles to decide the follow-up guidelines.


What are the Challenges in EHRs?

Similar to the concern of any establishments for data breaches, the security of the records and cybersecurity threats continue to be the number one task. Teaching information users on accountable use of healthcare systems and records to enter patient research patients’ controls must be bolstered. Strategic level decisions through system CIOs and different executives for the integration of numerous systems should be evaluated.


Using NLP with EHRs only enhances the capabilities of the AI to assist health care provides to improve the care they provide to their patients. NLP helps the AI to understand data better, especially in the format of natural language. EHRs can potentially prevent diseases and, in turn, saves lives due to the collection of datasets that are continuously being updated of the patients in question. It is a masterstroke of brilliance to improve efficiency for healthcare providers.



What are other ways NLP is being used in health?

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NLP has many Use Cases in Healthcare

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