Abstract
Electronic health records are used in health care to replace paper charts. They contain valuable patient medical information. EHRs improve quality of care without expensive, time-consuming processes. Although there are many reasons to use electronic health records, there are also some disadvantages to using them. More importantly though, there is a real importance for EHRs this day-in-age.
The Importance of Electronic Health Records
“Electronic health record systems enable hospitals to store and retrieve detailed patient information to be used by health care providers, and sometimes patients, during a patient’s hospitalization, over time, and across care settings.” (CITEEE). This paper will discuss why we need EHRs, the advantages and disadvantages, the importance of electronic health records, and also how they have become more useful in today’s society. To learn more about EHRs and the role they play in our health care system, we must first understand what they are.
What is an EHR
Definition of EHRs EHR stands for electronic health record. They store health data electronically. These health records are a digital version of a patient’s traditional paper chart. Using a highly secure network, health care professionals such as, physicians, nurses, etc., enter patient medical information directly into a computer, instead of using the old format of writing it down on paper. Electronic health records are used to improve patient care by communicating with one another
Electronic health records (EHR) are health records that are generated by health care professionals when a patient is seen at a medical facility such as a hospital, mental health clinic, or pharmacy. The EHR contains the same information as paper based medical records like demographics, medical complaints and prescriptions. There are so many more benefits to the EHR than paper based medical records. Accuracy of diagnosis, quality and convenience of patient care, and patient participation are a few examples of the
An electronic health record (EHR) defines as the permissible patient record created in hospitals that serve as the data source for all health records. It is an electronic version of a paper chart that includes the patient’s medical history, maintained by the provider over time, and may include all of the key administrative clinical data relevant to that persons care. Information that is readily available includes information such as demographics, progress notes, allergies, medications, vital signs, past medical history, immunizations, laboratory data, & radiology reports. The intent of an EHR can be understood as a complete record of patient
Electronic Health Records (EHR) are changing the way health care is delivered to patients, not just how patient medical information is stored. In the recent past, patient-doctor visits consisted of handwritten multiple medical forms to be completed, and most times duplicated. There were several areas of concern with past patient record keeping, omission of important care information, medical interventions and prescribed medication were missed in certain cases, erroneously prescribed or duplicated and records were lost or misplaced. EHR facilities and improves the quality of care by refining access to patient record by multiple health care providers and the patient; better decision support; reporting occurs in real time and is legible which
Moving to an EHR can be difficult and the advantages may be unclear and the disadvantages may seem immense. The EHR is an electronic version of a patient’s medical history, maintained by the provider over time, and includes all administrative, clinical data relevant to that persons care under a particular provider, including demographics, diagnosis, progress notes, medications, vital signs, past medical history, immunizations, lab and radiology reports. (CMS.gov, 2011). The principle object here is
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).
Electronic Health Record (EHR) is an electronic version of a patients medical history, that is maintained by the provider over time, and may include all of the key administrative clinical data relevant to that persons care under a particular provider, including demographics, progress notes, problems, medications, vital signs, past medical history, immunizations, laboratory data and radiology reports (Ehlke & Morone, 2013). The incentives from both of this articles will result in the delivery of quality care to many individuals in
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
A lengthy list of EHR benefits supports the evolution from paper to electronic medical record keeping. One such benefit, the significant reduction of needed storage space. Bulky paper charts require a lot of space and misplaced charts waste time and effort to locate. Since EHR data remains on the computer, medical practices no longer require secure on-site storage, and electronic files eliminate misplacing files. Another benefit to data remaining on the computer rather than a medical chart, electronic records allow immediate access from several locations. EHRs provide emergency room personnel access to allergies and other pertinent information of unconscious patients. The on-call physician accesses patient information from their home computer, rather than driving to the medical
The use of electronic health records (EHR) aims at improving the quality and safety of patient care. An electronic health record (EHR) is an electronic version of the patient’s entire medical history including past diagnoses, treatments, and current medications being taken. There has been a rise in the conversion to EHR from paper records because these electronic records can track patient data over time and monitor parameters such as trends in vital signs over time or vaccination history, all which contribute to the improvement in the quality of patient care being delivered (Department of Health and Human Services, 2014). EHR’s are used currently to make more efficient, comprehensive decisions about patients, because there is more information available at the fingertips of the providers. By adopting EHR’s, it can provide health care providers accurate, more comprehensive information about the patient’s health to enhance the ability to provide quick and efficient care, to better coordinate patient care, and to provide a way to share this comprehensive set of information with both the patient and their families (Department of Health and Human Services, 2014). The purpose of this paper is to explore EHR’s in entirety including the EHR mandate, who started it, when it was started, and what the objectives and goals of the mandate are. The connection between EHR’s and The Affordable Care Act will also be explored. Each facility has their own implementation of the use of EHR’s;
Electronic health records (EHR) is a new way for the health care system to put patients information in one place. Most doctors or physicians call for digital health records. While, this may sound like a good idea to have all the information transfer to computers, it does not replace other paper charts. Records that have to be fax, but some doctors do not have all electronic health records. With this happening, then it leads to random paper work. For hospitals and physician offices everywhere may not have electronic health records, yet can be a bad effect on patient 's health and life.
An Electronic Health Record is a computerized form of a patient’s medical chart. These records allow information to be readily available to authorized providers during a patient’s encounter with the healthcare system. These systems do not only contain medical histories, current medications and insurance information, they also track patients’ diagnoses, treatment plans, immunization dates, allergies, radiology images and lab tests/results (source). The fundamental aspect of EHRs is that they are able to share a patient’s information quickly across service lines and even between different healthcare organizations. Information is at the fingertips of lab techs, primary care physicians, pharmacies, clinics, etc. The
Electronic Health Records has many advantages that are not only essential in replacing the paper charts and records, but can rationalize billings, ordering medications, tests and easy communication between providers and patients. EHR can show the entire patients’ medical history including clinic administration practice. The power of EHR is the ability through which it allows providers to share patients’ recent visit to the
The purpose of this literature review is to compare the benefits and risks of electronic health records (EHRs). This literature review has provided different journal articles to compare the risks and the benefits of having electronic health records in a hospital. Some of the articles believe that the use of EHRs in a hospital will be more effective and helpful while others suggest that the use of EHRs in a hospital will not be beneficial due to the complications that may arise with it. The methods used will be comparing different journal articles and comparing them with each other. In conclusion, the use of electronic health records in hospitals will be beneficial for both patients and doctors because it allows the doctors to
Electronic health records, along with everything have their disadvantages, however it is clear from this essay that the advantages of EHRs are second to none. EHRs create a link for communication with patients which allows providers to deliver sufficient care, meaning they can carry out their job correctly and that patients can receive the adequate care that they may need. Electronic health records also improve patient outcomes when recovering from an illness. The transparency of EHRs between care providers means that the patient’s welfare is always of optimum importance and that nothing should be missed when providing care for a patient, thus, improving their quality of life and their outcome for recovery. Finally, EHRs minimise the risk of mismanagement of documentations and reduce the chance of mistake by a misinterpretation of handwriting, which is obviously beneficial for patients. There is no doubt that electronic health records will be of great advantage and benefit to patients as highlighted throughout this
Being able to have important health information constitutes simpler updates and exchanges of patient records. This is significantly aided by the introduction of an electronic health record (EHR) technology. These systems enable patient information to become available almost instantly when needed for providers and patients. At the present moment medical providers as well as hospitals and numerous facilities currently use some type of an electronic health record technology to monitor, document, and send date regarding their patients' health which can improve health care making it more effective and efficient.