With the rapid adoption of electronic medical records (EMRs) in the U.S., medical transcription companies have become experts in providing physicians with EMR-integrated documentation, including customized solutions for specialties like neurology. Today, research is focused on better understanding and diagnosing PD and developing new treatments. According to the latest reports, stem cell therapies for brain disorders like Parkinson’s disease are quickly progressing toward clinical trials. Medical News Today reported on studies conducted in this area by two teams from Lund University and the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, whose work was published in the journal Cell Stem Cell.
A degenerative disease of the central nervous system, PD is a chronic, progressive movement disorder. It affects the vital dopamine-producing brain cells or neurons in a part of the brain. Described as a chemical messenger, dopamine is essential for controlling movement. When PD progresses, the dopamine-producing cells break down and die, causing problems with movement, tremors in the hands, limbs, jaw, and face, stiffness, impaired balance and speech problems.
As the neurons in the brain die, they are not replaced. Researchers are looking to stem cell engineering to transplant progenitor cells into the brain so they produce new dopamine cells. Their main challenge is to ensure the quality of the cells before the transplant so that they achieve proper development once they are inside the brain. While one team used global gene expression techniques for this purpose, the other used transcriptome-wide single-cell RNA sequencing techniques to carry out a detailed study of how dopamine cells develop in the brains of mice.
According to a study published in Neurology Clinical Practice, there is a lot of scope for improving EMRs used in neurology practices. The reason is that the evaluation, management, and follow-up of patients with neurologic diseases are unique processes which include:
- A complex physical examination for diagnosis and follow-up
- Use of electromyography [EMG]/nerve conduction studies [NCS], EEG, evoked potential studies, all of which are specialty-specific
- Extensive utilization of MRI, and CT scanning
- Use of videotaped exams to assess movement disorders
- Use of patient-recorded videos or pictures in the medical record
- Importance of patient documentation of episodic complaints such as migraines, seizures
Even minor inconsistencies in neurologic documentation can drastically affect the care or treatment decision of a complex patient. The support of an experienced medical transcription service provider can be very useful to ensure effective EMR documentation, especially with neurologists and researchers constantly seeking effective ways to diagnose and manage patients with the condition. Efficient neurology transcription services can help these specialists manage their heavy documentation and disease management challenges by ensuring a complete and accurate medical record for each patient.