Electronic Health Record Essay

EHRs adoption is an essential part of improving patient safety and the quality of health care by reducing errors, allowing access to complete and accurate medical information to produce better patient outcomes. Although, it seems like a win/win situation there are still some challenges that appear when implementing an EHR. Some challenges would be Time, Cost, Work- Flow Distribution, Security/Privacy, and Interoperability just to name few. Interoperability is defined as the ability of a computer system or software to exchange or make use of information, which can create a major issue for any organization if these systems are not communicating properly. Security and Privacy are always a concern because implementing HIPAA measures is not an easy task. Not only do you have to comply with the federal level organization still need to recognize state laws which can often be more stringent. Especially, when you need to cover areas such as mental health, drug and alcohol services, genetic testing, HIV, and family planning issues. Change management would be enacted to overcome any issues involving process change resistance. It is a methodical approach and application of knowledge that use tools and resources to deal with this type of change. Methodologies would

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the Electronic Health Record (HER) mandate, including its goals and objectives. It will further address how the Affordable Care Act and the Obama Administration connect with the mandate. The plan my facility used to meet the goals of the mandate, as well as what meaningful use is and our status of attaining it will be discussed. In addition, HIPAA laws, the dangers to patient confidentiality, and what my facility has done to prevent these will be presented.

One huge point in favor of EHRs is being able to access computerized records quickly (in real time) and efficiently. Simply the access to different diagnostic tools like radiology reports, lab tests, and past medical history reports of any sort, without searching through paper they can’t even read due to poor penmanship, improves the

Most hospitals, medical practices across the United States are transitioning to electronic health care record system to improve quality measures and manage the number of patients they can generate, retrieve, and accumulate. However, the ambulatory care providers usually don’t use EHR technology to the full extent of its power because it associates barriers that stand in the way of changing medical practices. In this case, the EHR will also examine some of the advantages and disadvantages while medical practitioners make their decision. In ambulatory care, there are many advantages of using electronic medical records, such as increasing the cyber security level and privacy safety, eliminating medical errors, and improving the quality of care.

Although electronic health record (EHR) systems many healthcare organizations, are turning to the electronic health record (EHR), there are are potential and actual disadvantages of the system. Disadvantages of the EHR includes financial issues, changes in workflow, temporary loss of productivity associated with EHR system, privacy and security concerns, as well as several unplanned consequences (Menachemi & Collum, 2011).

According Health IT Gov (2013), “An electronic health record (EHR) is a digital version of a patient’s paper chart that make information available instantly and securely to authorized users.” The EHR system that is currently used in my organization contains the medical and treatment histories of the patients. Depending on the individuals role make a difference in what all he or she will have access to on the system. This is a user friendly system that was built to go far beyond the standard clinical data that is typically kept in the patients paper chart. A purpose of the system is to

“The electronic health record (EHR) is an evolving concept defined as a longitudinal collection of electronic health information about individual patients and populations. Primarily, it will be a mechanism for integrating health care information currently collected in both paper and electronic

An Electronic Health Record is an electronic version of a patient medical history, that is maintained by the provider over time, and may include key administrative, clinical data relevant to that persons care under a health care provider, including demographics, progress notes, problems, medications, vital signs, past medical history, immunizations, laboratory data and radiology reports (“Electronic Health Records,” cms.gov, March 26, 2012). In 2009, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, to encourage and promote meaningful adoption and use of health information technology by hospitals and health care professionals. Then in 2011 the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services established the

When implementing the EHR in a private practice many challenges can often occur. Some challenges are:

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC-HIT) has defined a list of functional considerations that must be considered when implementing an EHR into practice. Numerous facets must be taken into account, such as maintaining access controls, protecting patient information while allowing patient access, all while following the standards set by HIPAA must be a priority in any EHR system. Research by Sun, Zhu, Zhang, and Fang (2011) shows that patients have been resistant to acceptance of an EHR system without assurance that their information will be safeguarded, used properly, and appropriate

Electronic health records can help improve the quality, safety, and efficiency of primary care practices. The implementation of electronic health records can save thousands of lives through improved coordination of care, prevention of medical errors, and increased preventive care. In the medical field, having access to accurate and up-to-date information regarding a patient is critical. Being able to share this information is just as important, however it has been found that this area is at risk for errors and is very time consuming. It has been reported by physicians that nearly 14% of patients information in their chart is missing, or left out, and that almost half of a practices patients experience at least one medical error when following up with their primary care physician due to the fact that the facility did not receive discharge information.

With the implementation of Electronic Health Record (EHR), Florida MIS Radiology Department will be introducing a variety of health information. Electronic health information is any type of individually identifiable health information in an electronic form. This health information consists of patient demographics like age, ethnicity, location, and etc. They will also contain conditions the patient has and the vital reading taken on each patient. The electronic health information will reside with the EHR, which will be in the radiology department.

The electronic health record (EHR) is a key component of HISs (health information system). While HISs consist of much more, commonly the EHR is the focus of concern. Through the use of HISs, contouring aspects of patient care and proper patient care documentation is required to ensure quality care for every patient as well as providing an evaluation method and quality improvement. While the long-term goal of all medical professionals is standardized HISs, currently organizations are free to customize the system to fit the needs of the organization. Regardless of the system chosen by any organization, the most important facets of an effective HIS are usability, interoperability, scalability, and compatibility.

Data Security: The importance of data security need not be stressed. The EHR is not just a record of patient data that remains idle. It has to be shared across medical practitioners, sometimes with specialists at remote locations. Any instance of data breach creates negative impact in the first place in addition to the penal costs involved.

Electronic Health Record (EHRs) have a remarkable impact on every stakeholders in medicine. Stakeholders in medicine are the providers, payers, employers and patient. EHRs make access to a patients previous care service available for continuity care. The EHR is highly used to set up patients’ schedule or coordination of care. Patients safety and secure access to EHR through the patient portal, by policies set forth by the facility, will ensure the need to know information on a patient and that which can have positive results. Hospitals and health care providers are implementing EHRs rapidly in response to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and this is because of how essential; EHRs are in improving patient safety ( Sittig,