Switching to Electronic Health Records

In the medical field there have been a lot of technological advances and making health records electronic is one of them. The days of having a paper health record are almost obsolete. An electronic health record keeps a patient’s medical information and history on a computer which is accessible to more people in less time. I will explain how the continuity, communication, coordination and accountability of the electronic health record can help the medical office. I will explain what can be included in the electronic health record. As an advocate of the electronic health record I will also explain some disadvantages to the electronic system.

information is loaded into the individual’s medical record to provide an ongoing record of the

Possible benefits included positive patient outcomes as a result of improved quality of care, decreased medical errors, increase in financial revenue for organizations, better ability to conduct research, reduced cost of healthcare for patients, and an overall improvement in health for the general population (Menachemi & Collum, 2011). Disadvantages that were found in the review of literature included the initial cost to implement the electronic health record, continuing maintenance costs, and interruption in workflows that adds to the brief loss in productivity that occurs from healthcare providers having to learn a new system (Menachemi & Collum, 2011). There are also concerns about maintaining confidentiality (Menachemi & Collum,

Nurse staffing and how it relates to the quality of patient care has been an important issue in the field of nursing for quite some time. This topic has been particularly popular recently due to the fact that there is an increasing age among those who make up the Baby Boomer era in the United States. There will be a greater need for nurse staffing to increase to help accommodate the higher demand of care. Although nursing is “the top occupation in terms of job growth,” there are still nursing shortages among various hospitals across America today. The shortage in nurses heavily weighs on the overall quality of care that each individual patient receives during their hospital stay (Rosseter, 2014).

Along with the new technologies applying in healthcare, the documentation processes and storages also change from paper charts to computer-based electronic health records (EHR). Many healthcare organizations currently maintain patients’ health records in both formats of paper and electronic. The combination is known as hybrid health record system, which is used to assist in different methods that patients’ information is collected. Hybrid health records (HHR) contain specific patients’ health information. HHRs are stored manually and electronically in multiple places. Current patients’ health records usually contain both digital documents and handwritten notes. Patients’ data are electronically stored, such as laboratory, radiology tests,

Healthcare can be known for a complex industry. Every day is a new day facing complicated clinical administrative transactions with electronic medical records and safety? Health Information technology is suppose to realize errors using electronic medical records. Leaders must understand the complexity and safety issues in order to help mandate electronic medical records with design, development, implement and use. In the last decade, this article has informed executives, clinicians, and technology. Their main focus was on these three areas computerized physicians order entry. Their main focus was to work all three areas computer physician order entry, computer decision support system,

The cost of an EMR system is an ongoing expense with a significant initial cost. There are many financial considerations involved in implementing an integrated EMR similar to the EMR utilized by Mayo Clinic. A fully integrated system will include costs for each facility, as well as the central costs at corporate headquarters.

We live in a world filled with technology. School teachers and college professors use technology to give lectures, health care professionals use technology to keep medical records, or monitor patient’s vital signs, we use technology such as social media, to connect with people and gain acceptance. In 2014, Gary Turk posted a video to Youtube titled Look Up, in which he argues that technology, such as smartphones, causes us to miss out on certain things in life, because we don’t use it in moderation. Technology benefits our lives by making us more efficient in our professional and personal activities.

In July of 2004, Tommy Thompson, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary, stated, "[A]merica needs to move much faster to adopt information technology in our health care system...electronic health information will provide a quantum leap in patient power, doctor power, and effective health care. We can 't wait any longer...” (hhs.gov). In the 12 years since Thompson’s statement, healthcare has been transformed by the beneficial adoption of electronic medical records (EMR) creating savings for healthcare organizations and reducing costs for practitioners and informaticists, as well as other professionals involved in the process.

The Electronic Health Record, or EHR, is used throughout the medical field. The EHR systems are a collection of patient health information that is stored in digital format, and can be shared electronically with all health care settings. The Electronic Health Record contains information regarding a patient’s health visit; everything that has been done during that visit is recorded in the EHR system along with the patient’s health insurance information. A patient 's lab test results, there is also a medication list that shows what is currently being prescribed and what medication has been taken in the past, immunizations, medical histories and demographics are also stored in the EHR system (www.healthit.gov, 2016). The Electronic Health

Something to question is new electronic health records helping staff take care of patients or is it a burden. Nursing documentation is always necessary because it provides a reflection of what nurses do for their patients. Documentation helps ensures a flow with patient’s treatment team (Linton & Moon). When documentation is not done correctly or efficiently due to the new technologies it can place the patient at increased risk and added cost to the hospital. Many nurses feel too much time is spent on electronic documentation and not the patient. Nurses know that failure to document is hard to defend in court (Morales, 2014). Having standardized documentation in place can dramatically ensure that patients are getting taken care of, and not have to worry about missing or forgotten documentation and potentially finding health trends in the documentations (“The importance”, 2015). New documentation requirements are effecting nurses in a good way to make sure their care that they provide is being reflected on and noticed.

A study was recently completed and published in HealthAffairs, according to this study; health care practices were able to cover the cost of the EHR in approximately 2.5 years and then received an average of approximately $23,000 per year per full-time employee in net benefits. This study also notes that much of the ROI consisted of efficiency gains and increases in revenue. The increases in revenue arose primarily from more accurate higher level coding, but some providers also were able to see additional patients due to time saved from using an EHR (Miller, West, Brown, Sim, & Ganchoff, 2015)

Obstacles to EHRs include costs; lack of standardization of EHR products and the design of vendor systems for sizeable practice surroundings; opposition to change; initial struggle of system use leading to productivity decline; and apparent increase of repayments to communities and clients rather than providers. “The authors stress the need for developing a flexible change management strategy when introducing EHRs that is relevant to the small practice environment; the strategy should acknowledge the importance of relationship management and the role of individual staff members in helping the entire staff to manage change [Lobach].”

The implementation of new information technology systems into existing organizations is not a new concept as the possible process improvements for a business can be fairly obvious when compared to more traditional non-computer based processes. One sector, which for the most part is transitioning into using information systems in an attempt to improve processes, is the health sector. This report observes and analyses multiple real life cases of health care providers from the United States who have decided to upgrade from traditional paper based patient charts to computer based Electronic Health Records (EHR).

Electronic health records cater to the health care industry. An Electronic Health Records system is an official health record for an individual, which can be shared among multiple health facilities and agencies. It has digitized health information systems, which will improve the efficiency and quality of care and, ultimately, reduce costs (Furukawa 952). This system is used to improve effectiveness, quality care, and reduce long term cost. This record of information contains the history of the patient’s visits to the healthcare facility all pertaining to documenting the contact information to patient histories and allergies (Houston 112). The record also contains a listing of medications, billing information, and additional data pertaining to the patient’s visit (George 526).. Electronic health records allow the physician to electronically enter patient’s orders and view patients care results. It can detect adverse effects of medical errors and reduce less patient suffering from receiving incorrect medications.