EHR Analysis

This article describes The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act’s (HITECH) “meaningful use” objective to create a nationwide system of Electronic Health Records (EHRs) in order to improve patient safety, quality of care, privacy and security. The authors point out that during the first two years of an EHR implementation, clinicians and hospitals must meet certain requirements in order to qualify for federally funded incentive payments totaling up to $107,750 per clinician. This incentive is meant to ease the financial challenges smaller practices might face as the United States works toward a more technically collaborative information care system, EHRs promise to provide.

The EHR article explains the progress and the adaption of rates of EHR systems over the years. The article states there has been a slow participation in the EHR incentive program, but there has been a shown continue increase in implementation in provider settings of EHR in 2014. As for Physician and Hospital, there has not been a fast implementation. Many of these facilities are at only stage one of the meaningful use in 2014 about one out of five hospitals and only 38% of hospitals is at the second stage of meaningful use. There have been gains in the implementation of new EHR systems in 2014 there was a 75% adoption rate in 2014 compared to 61% in 2013 for hospitals and for physicians 62% plan to participate in the EHR

Adding electronic health record (EHR) systems, dashboards and electronic data warehouses to a healthcare practice enables administrators and managing physicians to modernize their service delivery model and work toward high-quality continuity of care. While EHRs provide a cost-effective mechanism for documenting patient encounters and improving patient experiences, some organization leaders don't understand how to leverage analytics to strengthen their practice.

These rewards serve as gratification and the offered initiatives contribute to the prevailing positive attitudes from the physicians toward EHRs. These benefits include improved patient safety and quality of care, the ability to reduce healthcare cost, and ultimately better patient health outcomes and satisfaction. According to Jamoom et al. (2013), having the ability to access the patient’s charts remotely, being warned to critical lab values and potential medication errors, and the systems’ ability to identify needed lab tests are all reported benefits of the EHR. Improved overall patient care, the ordering of less medical test due to the availability of lab results, and the ordering of more on-formulary medications are all advantages that physicians reported occurring due to the adoption of the EHRs. The adoption and implementation of the EHR has presented challenges for information technology. These benefits of the EHR outweigh the initial dissatisfaction of the physicians. For the adoption of EHR to be successful in the healthcare industry it is important that the physician’s outlook remain

Since the standardization of the electronic health record, EHR, the Institute of Medicine established eight core functions from which vendors would improve chronic disease management, quality care, feasibility, and efficiency. As such, the EHR became the essential tool for the transformation of family medicine to meet patient needs. The functions of the EHR vendor product enhance workflows as well as increasing access to information thus creating efficiency for both physicians and their staff. This paper seeks to compare four EHR products; practice Fusion, athenaClinicals, NextGen, and eClinicalWorks according to the Institute of Medicine’s set functions and the definitions of EHR.

With the introduction of Electronic Health Records, there has been a paradigm shift in the healthcare industry. With the digitization of patient data, sharing details across healthcare settings has become not only easy, but also innately helpful. Most healthcare services have already adopted EHR, and those who haven’t have started doing so.

As the emergence of electronic health records (EHRs), the subject of transforming the delivery method of healthcare is prominent in the United States. The use of EHRs is a major key in the way physicians practice in healthcare organizations through communication and management of patient information. Henricks (2011) points out that EHRs are a part of an objective aimed at improving all aspects of health care and reducing health disparities, making the healthcare of patients and families appealing to them, refining the direction of healthcare, along with population and public health improvement, continuation of privacy maintenance and the security of health information, and finally reducing costs. In the perspective of health information technology

Electronic health records will be electronically accessible to vendors and clients. To protect confidential information a security code must be used to access information. The Institute of Medicine identified six goals for health care; medical care should do no harm, be valuable, patient-focused, relevant, fruitful, and unbiased. (National Academies, 2013). EHR can help increase patient-focused care; the patient will be able to view their records online and assist in guiding their care. When records are accessible online patients can see them and manage diseases, collaborate care with providers, and improve patient to provider communication (Ricciardi, Mostashari, Murphy, Daniel, & Siminerio, 2013). Patients that are well-informed about their care have better health outcomes compared to uninformed patients. Patients who are involved in their care are less likely to experience adverse effects, to be admitted to the hospital, and have a medication error from lack of collaboration with their provider (Ricciardi et al. 2013). For providers to receive funds under the meaningful use incentive to purchase electronic equipment, they must show medical decisions are patient driven. (Ricciardi et al. 2013).

Studies that concentrated on the identification of patient safety risks and the electronic medical record found that certain types of medical facilities are at greater risk than others for certain types of EHR related errors. Surveys and simulations were helpful in identifying such risk factors

Over the past decade, virtually every major industry invested heavily in computerization. Relative to a decade ago, today more Americans buy airline tickets and check in to flights online, purchase goods on the Web, and even earn degrees online in such disciplines as nursing,1 law,2 and business,3 among others. Yet, despite these advances in our society, the majority of patients are given handwritten medication prescriptions, and very few patients are able to email their physician4 or even schedule an appointment to see a provider without speaking to a live receptionist. Electronic health record (EHR) systems have the potential to transform the health care system from a mostly paper-based industry to one that utilizes clinical

EHRs can be used to examine patterns in performance and to identify problem areas by generating reports from data that physicians enter into the EHR. “They can also be used to improve quality by incorporating checklists, alerts, predictive tools, clinical guidelines for evidence-based practices, and to reduce duplication” (Blavin et al.,

Instead of visiting their physician for a simple test like a blood pressure or weight check, a device controlled by the patient can record these measurements and transmit the data to their physician through the digital cloud.” (Khan, F. Feb.2014). These devices also help the provider monitor the patient’s progress. In my last class, my teammates and I did some research on telemedicine; which is also new and progressing, for those seniors who can communicate with their providers without leaving their homes. EMR (electronic medical records) are another thing leading the way to change and how information can be shared from provider to provider to offer safer and faster health care services. Patients have access to their medical records for viewing and making necessary changes. All of these new technologies will make health care more efficient for not only the consumer but the providers as well; giving the provider more free time to spend with the patient instead of under a lot of paperwork.

An electronic health record (EHR) is a digital version of a patient’s paper chart. EHRs are real-time, patient-centered records that make information available instantly and securely to authorized users. Authorized health care providers and, in some cases, patients have access to EHR electronically anywhere, anytime in support of care provided. This record is designed to facilitate data sharing across the continuum of care between healthcare delivery organizations and across geographical regions. Despite the potential of EHR, healthcare providers are reluctant about its use. This project aims to evaluate the perceptions of physicians using EHR and to propose a set of key elements that will be useful for adjusting any difficulties

The current self-developed software provides Dr. Halamka’s hospital with all clinical information needed within the hospital and its affiliates at a low cost. But, will this system be valid five years from now in the rise of EHR adoption and implementation? Can the current system be integrated with the rest of the market to provide streamlined care? And what happens if his information got trapped? Additionally, there are many insufficiencies in the current information system in use. The use of paper-based charts limits portability of records and the ability of different clinicians at different sites to communicate about the care of their patient. In most cases, they count of what the patient tells them or wait a long time for a copy of diagnosis and treatments notes. With Epic, the problem of inaccurate or late progress notes will no longer be an issue.

In today’s medical field technology plays a big role when it comes to patient care. Technology is huge when it comes to giving the patient the best type of quality care when they are in the hospital. In the old days people would just write it down on a sheet of paper and record it by hand, which caused mistakes. Now with the Electronic Health Record those mistakes are drastically declining. Statistics have shown that using the Electronic Health Record has lowered Nursing mistakes as well as improved patient care. Our society has progressed through the years and has been introduced with the Electronic Health Record which has drastically improved our health care system. The Electronic Health Record provides great communication between