EHR In Medical Office

After decades of paper based medical records, a new type of record keeping has surfaced - the Electronic Health Record (EHR). EHR is an electronic or digital format concept of an individual’s past and present medical history. It is the principle storage place for data and information about the health care services provided to an individual patient. It is maintained by a provider over time and capable of being shared across different healthcare settings by network-connected information systems. Such records may include key administrative and clinical data relevant to that persons care under a particular provider. Examples of such records may include: demographics, physician notes, problems or injuries, medications and allergies, vital

EHR was created to have a technical way to securely exchange private and personal medical health information in hopes to improve the quality of care, decrease medical errors, limiting paper use, reduction of health care cost, and increasing a person access to affordable health care. A mandate was created for EHR stating that health records can be accessible to all facilities with patients having the capability to access their own health records at any time. Ameliorating the quality and convenience of care given to a patient, allow for cost saving measures, engage the patient and family to participate in their care, improve accuracy of medical diagnosis, and enhance the efficiency of the overall outcome of the patients’ health.

EHRs can positively influence workplace efficiency and communication and improve productivity with better access to and organization of patient data (McGinn, et al., 2011). EHRs can improve operational efficiency by providing the capability of sharing of information within the practice. Additionally, health information can be shared with external health care organizations provided the proper interoperability infrastructure is in place. Physicians can access patient information anytime and anywhere the system is enabled, enhancing patient safety as well as quality and continuity of care, particularly for physicians on call or working at multiple sites. They also can have access to drug recalls or other alerts provided through the EHR.

The use EHR systems has both positive and negative impact on individual health information because of the risk exposures such as hacking, privacy violations, etc. associated with EHR systems. On a positive note, the use of EHR has increase coordination of care, patient-provider relationships through patient portals. creating and monitoring quality

Today, the patient will visit the same doctor and the doctor will enter the data into a tablet or pc. The EHR is a designed very similar to the paper chart, but is programmed to collect and segregate the information in different formats to transmit securely to the necessary partners. Those partners include insurance carriers, public health entities, clearinghouses, laboratories, and pharmacist. This data is collected and stored on secure servers. In most EHR’s today, a doctor who has a private practice, and maybe affiliated with a hospital has the ability to allow the hospital to access a patient’s record, if that patient has agreed to release their information to the hospitals. So if the patient is taken to the local hospital, the hospital can have access to the patient’s records if an authorization is in place. The EHR will not only collect the patient medical information, it will track the medical information. Providers are required to secure the information and track the medical records activity via a built-in audit system that will show the medical records history and the name of all parties that access the patient’s records. Poor EHR system design and improper use can cause EHR-related errors that jeopardize the integrity of the information in the EHR, leading to errors that endanger patient safety or decrease the quality of care. These unintended consequences also may increase fraud and abuse and can have

The challenges of integrating diverse healthcare standards, intranet and Internet communications, patient and consultant accessibility to EHRs and internal business systems require an exceptionally mobile, intuitive and secure platform. EMR and EHR software are designed to integrate electronic health records into healthcare businesses to provide HIPAA compliance. However, to meet or exceed these requirements and offer patients, medical staff, insurance providers and outside consultants access to EMRs and EHRs, healthcare businesses need a robust communications platform to connect these stakeholders. The benefits of offering Web access to health records include better patient care, cost savings and efficiencies, better coordination between medical service providers and greater patient participation in his or her own care.

The physician practice workflow has changed drastically since the implementation of the EHR. The workflow has become more efficient and well organized. Many routine tasks of a practice such as scheduling appointments, registering new and established patients, verifying insurance managing messages and telephone calls, check in and check out of patients, conducting exams, renewing medications, documenting illness histories, recording vital signs, and much more have improved by EHR implementation. For instance, before EHR the front office assistant checks in patient whereas the EHR allows the patient to check in using a self-service computer in the lobby. The other example is before implementation of HER, the front office assistant files chart in medical records filing cabinet and after implementation of HER, this step completely is skipped. The implementation of HER has made the workflow more rapid

EHR technology is a large improvement in the health care with efficiency. The improvements can impact

EHRs offer infinite ways to improve healthcare provider’s productivity, but only the most important are mentioned here. Patients’ information can be accessed almost instantly, from anywhere, and by many parties simultaneously. Redundant work can be reduced because only one copy of a record needs to be maintained. Therefore, more can be done cost effectively, in less time, and with fewer errors.

If the plan is to openly share information with these other institutions; patients of the hospitals need to be informed of this plan and sign a consent form. If a patient doesn't want their information shared, the institution's ability to see into this patient's record should be restricted. In a similar manner, not everyone in the institution should have access to the hospital EHR, but only an authorized point person such as the case manager or admissions person. A policy should be made that when the institution wants information on a patient they need to put in a formal request and a small statement why. This way the institution only has access to those patients and the reason that they need access has been validated. This helps insure patient's

After stating the goals of EHR, and the benefits it serves, this student will now discuss how EHR is being utilized at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. One could say that the Cleveland Clinic were innovators in EHR, being one of the first institutions to adopt EHR more than eleven years ago. According to Cleveland Clinic (2012), EHR is “enabling physicians to actively collaborate and exchange information to ensure appropriate coordination of care throughout a patient’s life”. MyChart has also been a large milestone in development as part of Cleveland Clinics adoption of EHR. MyChart gives patients access to medical records, test results, and physician notes through a portal on the internet that can be accessed at home online. “MyChart, Cleveland Clinic’s secure, online patient-centered recording tool, connects patients to personalized health information at any time” (Cleveland Clinic, 2010). One benefit MyChart gives to patients is the ability for them to participate in decisions and their care.

Electronics has become one huge complex reality. When you turn to your right someone is using a form of electronic device and when you turn to your left something is being controlled by some electronic. In general there are computers in schools, prisons, hospitals and at home. It has become part of our day to day need in our community. In this paper I will discuss the current status of electronic health record (EHR) in United States, what needs to be done to improve EHR status in United States and issues that affects patient confidentiality.

With the emergence of Healthcare IT industry, comprehensive patient care has become facile and efficient as healthcare providers use the patient records which are saved in EHR by expanding access to different specialties and improve the quality of life. Currently, about 78.4 % 1 of hospitals in US are using EHR systems which consist of enormous amount of data storage related to patient records, hospital administration, digital medical imaging diagnostics & treatment procedures. Present medical practices are involved in digitalizing files and implementing electronic medical records through virtualization and cloud computing methods, for this data to be stored and retrieved back for future use when needed. But on the flip side, these process

With the implementation of the EHRs, patients in the community can have access to their personal health records (PHR). They can have direct access to functions such as secure messaging with health care providers, medication refills, and appointment scheduling. The patient controls their PHR and has the discretion to permit numerous people to have access and data adding privileges. Access to patient’s medical record takes seconds compare to taking days with having paper records. Another thing is that patients do not have to carry a list of the medications they take. Once entered into the system, the record is there.

An Electronic Health Record (EHR) refers to patient centered record that allows access instantly and securely to healthcare providers. EHR system is designed to accurately store patient clinical data including patient’s past medical history, allergies, diagnoses, medications, treatment plans, laboratory test results, etc and displays a broader picture of a patient care. The EHR has the ability to support other patient care related tools such as clinical decision support, quality management, and outcomes reporting [1]. Also, the health information can be shared through the