Abstract Electronic health records (EHR) is more and more being utilized in organizations offering healthcare to enhance the quality and safety of care. Understanding the advantages and disadvantaging of EHR is essential in the nursing profession as nurses would learn its strengths and weaknesses. This would help the nursing profession know how to deal with the weak areas of the system. The topic on advantages and disadvantages of EHR has been widely researched on with different researchers coming up with different opinions. Nurses ought to have knowledge on the advantages and disadvantages of EHR systems for them to use systems efficiently. This would transform the operations of health systems and benefit patients with quality service. …show more content…
This meant that there was 41 percent reduction in the risk of pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis ninety days following discharge. In addition, researchers have established that there is a relation between efficiency and EHRs in the delivery of healthcare. EHRs societal benefits Improved ability to conduct research is another less tangible benefit associated with EHR. When the data for patients is electronically stored, makes the data easily accessible hence more quantitative analysis can be undertaken for identification of evidence-based best practices with ease. In addition, public health researchers use electronic clinical data more actively which have been amassed from a huge population hence coming up with research that benefits the society (Mitka, 2011). Clinical data availability is limited but this form of data will increase. Probable EHRs disadvantages Irrespective of the findings regarding the advantages of various functionalities of EHRs, some probable drawbacks on EHR have been identified by researchers. These comprise of financial concerns, temporal loss in productivity linked with adoption of EHR, change in workflow, security and confidentiality concerns and several unintentional consequences. Financial concerns comprise of costs of adoption and implementation, cost of maintenance, revenue loss due to temporal low productivity, and revenue declination. These factors act as deterrent for physicians
The cons of an EHR are part of the driving force behind the model restricted from the need to integrate EHRs throughout the health system and share information with network of referring hospitals. However, this sharing of information is often not possible (EHR,2013). Finding a hospital partner that is willing to open the lines of communication is critical to the success. The cost associated with EHRs is often a deterrent. Not only must the provider pay for the physical hardware and/or software, the organization must also put forth a considerable dollar amount for setup, maintenance, training, IT support and system updates (EHR,2013). With EHRs, much more documentation is required of physicians before, during and after a patient visit. This has its pros and cons. For example, a benefit of more strong documentation is that it provides additional information for the coders that may justify a higher level of service being billed(EHR,2013).
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
Change itself is never easy and sometimes the road of working out the kinks in a system can be quite frustrating. However, once implemented, the work load is lightened, and the time has come to reap the many benefits of EHR 's. Once implemented EHR 's will make every staff member 's job easier and here are some of the many ways it does just that! First, EHR 's reduce paperwork and eliminate both confusion and errors caused by the infamous “physicians ' handwriting”. This in turn results in less human errors and less duplication of effort. With EHR 'S we are no longer chasing charts, or even worse, loosing them all together. Just think of all the space that is saved by no longer having to store paper charts. With the implementation of EHR 's every healthcare member including all staff, physicians, hospitals, and insurance companies can share in enhanced information which results in much improved patient care, and an improvement in overall management of a practice. Everyone wins! With EHR 's data regarding reports from labs, radiology, tests, and procedures can be shared with all involved resulting in better outcomes in patient care. For the medical biller and coder, EHR 's allow a much quicker ability to electronically file a claim instead of handwriting it out on a paper claim. With EHR 's we have more accurate claims with less rejections resulting in speedy claims. A medical office specialist no longer has to take time
There are certainly diverse reviews from staff and practitioners alike on the advantages and challenges of electronic health records (EHR). The transition from paper to EHR is involved and perplexing. There are many incentives, both from a financial and production perspective, but the route to implementation of an EHR system can be daunting to a hospital or practice group. Both staff and patients can be effected, both positively and negatively. As you stated in your post, physicians will not be obligated to wait for patient charts or outside records and reports. A physician can simply log in and all the information is readily available to him. But many physicians, staff and patients have become cumbersome. The transition to EHR has required
EHRs can positively influence workplace efficiency and communication and improve productivity with better access to and organization of patient data (McGinn, et al., 2011). EHRs can improve operational efficiency by providing the capability of sharing of information within the practice. Additionally, health information can be shared with external health care organizations provided the proper interoperability infrastructure is in place. Physicians can access patient information anytime and anywhere the system is enabled, enhancing patient safety as well as quality and continuity of care, particularly for physicians on call or working at multiple sites. They also can have access to drug recalls or other alerts provided through the EHR.
The potential benefits of EHR adoption include: real time patient information, limiting redundant workflow, standardization of care, increased productivity, reduction of errors, and more timely accurate communication
EHRs have potential in recuperating patient safety. EHRs are efficient as they do not require doctors to use paper records, which in turn result in healthier individuals (Staggers, Weir and Phansalkar, 2008). Furthermore, Canada and many other countries around the globe have invested in EHRs due to the advantages for patient safety. Moreover, EHRs have its advantages, but there are also evident disadvantages, such as financial costs, patient safety, and medical errors (Sparnon and Marella,
Resistance towards EHR systems tends to run high among physicians. The increase in the adoption of EHR in health systems has its challenges and concerns. Many physicians complain of negative impact on workflow, productivity disruption, and most importantly the physician-patient relationship. Earnest et al. (2004) concluded that physicians’ had initially thought information technology would be an obstacle to their workflow. Also, federal mandates with deadlines have created an environment where many physician practices have adopted an EHR strictly for compliance without any thought to the ongoing needs of the system (Porter, 2015). The EHRs that were quickly brought to market have been the source of ongoing frustrations and issues since they had the sole purpose of meeting
Electronic Medical Records & Access, this gives the ability to have past records of patients for long term and easily access from any place whereas paper based document and can be loss or not able to get it when it’s needed. Ensuring that the EHR is as adopted as other clinical applications can greatly impact the patient experience, including; patient registration, records management, and information infrastructure systems. As Roham et al points out, many healthcare providers are still in early staging of implementing an EHR and if not completely installed can have a negative impact on patient satisfaction metrics(2014, p. 134)11.
Although the general population has concerns about who has the ability to access their medical records, data has been put into place showed that the general population knows that having an EHR would be beneficial (Thede, 2010). Research has suggested that patients, providers and insurance companies have benefited from EHRs because insurance companies do not have to pay for duplicate testing as well as patients and providers having the ability to increase the quality of care that is provider (Thede, 2010). Not to mention, the patients aren’t pained to have to remember every detail of the history when visiting various specialist (Thede, 2010). Moreover, EHR can increase medical staff efficiency and reduce errors, and keeping adverse drug events from happening (Bill to promote electronic health records proposed, 2008).
The use EHR systems has both positive and negative impact on individual health information because of the risk exposures such as hacking, privacy violations, etc. associated with EHR systems. On a positive note, the use of EHR has increase coordination of care, patient-provider relationships through patient portals. creating and monitoring quality
First, it can improve standards of care. Data collected by the Electronic Health Records provides the best treatment methods; leading to a healthier population (Ferguson, 2001). It is tangent to the over-all goal of knowing the best way to handle treatment for each individual patient. Second, it will bring increased patient participation and collaboration. Our health spending is in a large part due to our chronic health issues. Chronic diseases brought on by poor lifestyle choices are difficult to handle, but IT provides a better way for organizations to develop new disease management solutions to address the issue. Data retrieved from EHR’s could also be beneficial in figuring out ways to curtail costs associated with chronic illness. The third way is the healthcare industry is continuously changing, and that results in an overpowering amount of information to distill and absorb. Also, the coming wave of electronic clinical data provides us an opportunity to replace old-fashioned, volume-based, fee for service business model with one fixated on the quality of the product. And last, but certainly not least, health IT should be used as a tool to include the patient in his or her own care. We need to become better educated as patients. Also, standing up and questioning services, quality, and price to make this break
But with the benefits there are also the risk factors. Some disadvantages of the EHR system would include; initial cost of planning and implementing an EHR system, lack of standardization across the healthcare setting, unauthorized access to patient information (security and privacy), inaccurate patient information if not updated properly, technical downtimes, potential negligence for data loss and possible patient access to conditions that they don’t comprehend which may panic them.
Electronic health records (EHR’s) have many advantages, but there are plenty of disadvantages. EHR’s were created to manage the many aspects of healthcare information. Medical professionals use them daily and most would feel lost without it. Healthcare organizations were encouraged to adopt EHR’s in 2009 due to the fact that a bill passed known as The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH Act). “The HITECH Act outlines criteria to achieve “meaningful use” of certified electronic records. These criteria must be met in order for providers to receive financial incentives to promote adoption of EHRs as an integral part of their daily practice”, (Conrad, Hanson, Hasenau & Stocker-Schneider, 2012).
Another big plus of the EHRs is that studies have shown that it has helped providers improve accuracy of diagnoses and health outcomes (Couch, 2008). For example, nurses could have reliable access to patients complete health information and have pictures which would help with whatever problem they might encounter. EHR doesn’t just keep patients medications and allergies, it also check for problems whenever a new medication is prescribed and it also alerts the nurse of potential problems (Couch, 2008). EHRs can also tell the nurse if potential safety problems occur, which helps them avoid more serious consequences for patients, which can lead to better outcomes. The EHRs can also help nurses quickly identify and correct operational problems, which compared to the paper-based setting, those kinds of problems would be more difficult to correct. It can also help