Electronic Health Records and Healthcare Today Kevin Joseph Nova Southeastern University Technology and Healthcare Today In a healthcare world that operates on stringent budgets and margins, we begin to see the need for a higher capacity healthcare delivery system. This in turn puts pressure on the healthcare organizations to ensure higher standards of patient care, and compliance with the reform provisions. However, these are the harsh realities of today’s healthcare environment, a setting in which value does not always equal quality. The use of technology can help to amend some of this by providing higher capacity care without compromising quality; this can be done with the use of such technology as electronic health records (EHRs). This paper will aim to address how EHRs influence healthcare today by expanding upon topics such as funding sources, reimbursement methods, economic factors, socioeconomic factors, business influences, and cost containment. Technology In regards to technology and how its influences healthcare today we see the use of EHRs, which allows for a high capacity healthcare environment by condensing patient information into an easily accessible form for all healthcare professionals. “EHRs allow us to collect meaningful data to determine the efficacy in which our units are functioning” (Biddle & Milstead 2016, p.12). This technology can help manage the high capacity hospital environment while not compromising quality. This
Muhammed H. (2015) conducted a study to determine the relationship between EHRs and patient safety. According to the researcher, EHRs are healthcare applications that digitize patient information and clinical workflows. It may be considered as a data repository that stores patient data, and assists providers by providing reference information and recommendations for care. Furthermore it enables providers to electronically place orders and consolidate clinical notes across hospital departments. The results showed that about 70% of hospitals in PA adopted advanced EHRs since 2012 and there has been a 27% decline in patient safety events
However, whereas this seems to prove the importance of EHRs there is a need to understand the steps to quality healthcare and how EHRs enable hospitals provide these aspects. This paper will try to bring forth, the true picture of Electronic Health Records effectiveness. It is important to understand what an EHR is. According to this paper, this will take the following definition
The use of technology can be seen everywhere in the world today. One area which has seen a big push to add technology is the healthcare industry. Healthcare has now progressed to the age of electronic health records (EHR). The purpose of this paper is to discuss the evolution of the EHR, including the EHR mandate and the role of the Affordable Care Act in this mandate. It will discuss the EHR plan at Hackettstown Medical Center (HMC) to include the progress HMC has made with the mandate. This paper will discuss meaningful use and HMCs status with meaningful use. Lastly, the paper will define the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and what HMC is doing to prevent HIPAA violations.
EHRs display vital patient data and clinical information. Data and information include diagnosis, medications, procedures, test results, assessments, problems list, consents, and directives (Barey, McGonigle, & Mastrian, 2018). EHRs allow all healthcare professionals on the treatment team to access data to provide safe and quality care (Rocha & Rocha, 2014). EHRs not only provide pertinent patient data, but also assist in addressing the underuse or misuse of healthcare services. The response to EHRs has raised mixed emotions and positive and negative feedback from healthcare professionals. However, overall, research reveals EHRs can positively impact healthcare (Kutney-Lee & Kelly, 2011). EHRs continue to influence the healthcare system, and make a vital impact on healthcare quality and safety.
The Inner City Clinic is experiencing problems with medication prescribing errors and seeks a resolution to this problem through use of electronic medical records and registration medication reconciliation. The Institute of Medicine reports in the work entitled "Preventing Medication Errors" that the "average hospitalized patient is subject to at least one medication per day. This is reported to confirm previous research findings that medication errors represent the "most common patient safety error." (Barnsteiner, nd, p.1) Medication reconciliation is described as follows:
In the modern world technology is everywhere and it affects everyone’s daily life. People are constantly attached to cell phones, laptops, and other electronics, which all have affected how people live their lives. Technology is also a large part of the healthcare system today. There are many electronics and technologies that are used in health care, such as electronic health record, medication bar code scanning, electronic documentation, telenursing, and there are many more forms of technology that impact nursing. One technology that stands out is the electronic health record. The electronic health record, also referred to as EHR, is an electronic version of a patient’s chart, and it contains is a list of the patient’s current medications, allergies, laboratory results, diagnoses, immunization dates, images, treatments, and medical history (“Learn EHR Basics,” 2014). The purpose of the electronic health record is to have a patient’s health care record available to health care providers nationwide, but the patient can decide who has access to their record (Edwards, Chiweda, Oyinka, McKay, & Wiles, 2011). The electronic health record is a very important technology in health care and it impacts nurses, nursing care, and has a significant impact on patient outcomes.
The Electronic Health Record (EHR) and associated technologies have had a dramatic impact on the UC Davis Health System (UCDHS). UCDHS has realized significant returns on the clinical technology investment in the form of enhanced revenues and reduced costs. The new perspective and approaches enabled by UCDHS‟ EHR are driving improvements in clinical quality and cost reduction. There is no question that these new tools will enable dramatic improvements in care delivery and care quality that were simply not possible in the legacy fragmented paper-based care processes. UCDHS had a clear goal to deploy the EHR across all venues of care (inpatient, emergency department, ambulatory clinics, home health, and Telehealth encounters). Other key goals included secondary use of clinical content, leveraging EHR data to support transitions of care, and to provide better access to clinical data for
Quality, safety, and efficiency are essential attributes that healthcare workers must be able to perform to ensure their patient receives necessary care and treatment. “Implementations of potentially transformative eHealth technologies are currently underway internationally, often with significant impact on national expenditure. England has, for example, invested at least £12.8 billion in a National Programme for Information Technology (NPfIT) for the National Health Service, and the Obama administration in the United States (US) has similarly committed to a US $38 billion eHealth investment in health care. Such large-scale expenditure has been justified on the grounds that electronic health records (EHRs), picture archiving and communication systems (PACS), electronic pre-scribing (ePrescribing) and associated computerised provider (or physician) order entry systems (CPOE), and
In 2009 the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act which led to the significant investment of $30 billion in health information technology. The RRA provided financial incentives for hospitals, and physicians to use EHR systems in 2014, 83% of physicians use some form of EHRs, and 76% of hospitals have an EHR setup. Even with a basic EHR system a hospital or physician can create an autonomy of service that the patient can take comfort in that they are receiving the highest quality and tailor made health care experience. Noting the physicians and hospitals with EHR Patients feel as though they play an even larger role in determining their need for care but the outcome of the care they receive. If care is given to a patient at a specialized care facility and can, travel to a hospital for a separate issue communication should be seen by both facilities ensuring the patient is not receiving duplicate treatment. Patients who have EHR interface have a more satisfying experience at about 82% (source, 2016). With the open lines of communication, a real collaborative relationship can develop
With the world around America growing and expanding in their technology, President Obama saw it necessary to implement a new way to record a patient's medical history. The new plan that President Obama planned was called the Electronic Health Record or for short EHR. Technology is the new area that is evolving around our society currently. Everything is connected through technology now, you can have a picture or an email on a phone and when you get a new phone or electrical device the picture or email will be there. Since EHR is electrically it has many benefits. EHR allows to cut down time to gather all the patient's information, with EHR you just have to look up the patient's
Electronic health records (EHR) are digital patient records whose interoperable and sharable use can lead to improved safety, effectiveness, efficiency, and timeliness of care. The value of EHR is leading to more efforts into integrating medical organizations with the rest of the health care system to maximize patient benefits and improve transitions of care. Highlighting the case for EHR to health care stakeholders, such as organizations, organizational managers, and practitioners, will help contribute towards the integration above, in the process also supporting policies aimed to introduce EHR in healthcare. The objective of the policy brief is to demonstrate the value of EHR in promoting positive transitions of care and minimizing
Lastly, Electronic Health Records increases the efficiency of the medical practice. EHRs are more efficient because they reduce redundant paperwork and have the capability of interfacing with a billing program that submits claims electronically. It also improves medical practice management through scheduling systems that link appointment directly to progress notes, automated coding, and managed claims and many other shortcuts. In a survey done on Doctors, 79 % of providers said with EHRs, their practice functions more efficiently (HealthIT.gov). Communication with other clinician, insurance providers, pharmacies and diagnostic center is faster and trackable. The increase in communication cuts down on lost of messages and follow-up calls. In addition, the communication of information between several health agencies also prevents the patient from needing to repeated examination. Because EHRs contain all of the patient’s health information in one place, it is less likely that
According to research, there is a consensus among experts that technology “is the most important contributor of healthcare spending increases” (Walker & Norbeck, 2013, para. 6). While technology has made great abounds and benefited healthcare immensely, it is not secret that it is expensive to initiate and to maintain. One factor behind the rise is the wide-spread implementation of electronic health records (EHR). According to Walker and Norbeck (2013), “Installing and implementing
Technology is shaping the healthcare industry fast. It is being adopted in a bid to improve efficiency in the delivery of health services, along with the improvement of the quality of services that are provided. The most prominent technological advancement in this sector is the embracing of the Electronic Health Records (EHR). It has revolutionized the manner in which records are maintained and managed within a healthcare facility. Consequently, it has significantly contributed to the proper health care delivery, along with the proper diagnosis and follow-up care for patients (Middleton et al., 2013). It is safe to argue that technology has improved the manner in which business is handled in health care facilities. However,
I appreciate the way you write the whole article in a short way, I really agree that you said we are currently dealing with the Harvey tropical storm catastrophe, yet we are more a la mode now at that point back when Katrina hit. Disobediently influencing full scale our records with a web to source that you can pull up from any PC and be in any state. Recuperation time would be way speedier, in light of the fact that you don't need to go burrowing attempting to discover everything.