CHAPTER I
The Problem and Its Setting
This chapter presents the background of the study, the statement of the problem, the assumptions made in accordance with the design of the project, the scope and delimitation, the significance of the study, the research design and methodology, and the definition of terms used in the study.
Background of the Study
There have been major progresses in the Information Technology for the past twenty (20) years especially in the field of Medicine. The vast development of technology is the evident in hospitals in other countries as they have developed and implemented different forms of Patient Record Management System making practitioners and health professionals’ work easier than the manual way of
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(March 2009), the United States has less than 2 percent of U.S. hospitals that have completely accepted a fully functional electronic medical records. With U.S. President Barrack Obama has made electronic medical records a central piece of his plan to cut costs out of U.S. healthcare system that consistently ranks lower in quality measures than other rich countries. The U.S. President also allotted $19 billion to push into the increase the use of information technology in healthcare. The numbers of without electronic medical records are relatively high compared to those organizations that have adopted Electronic Medical Records.
Starfield, B. (1991) postulates that Primary Care in the United States is critical to the provision of giving excellent medical care. From the research in the year 1996, the Institute of Medicine report defined primary care as the provision of integrated, accessible health care services by clinicians accountable for addressing most personal health care needs, developing a sustained partnership with patients, and practicing in the context of family and community. These makes more people to receive primary care than in other clinics. These clinics have adopted the innovations of information technology giving more value to the primary care in other clinics. These clinics have adopted the innovations on information technology giving more value to the primary care of their patients. Thus obviously electronic medical records in the clinic are to be
The article, “2016 Report to Congress on HIT Progress,” explains how electronic health record became a highly used resource in the past six years. Most healthcare organizations have decisively moved from the paper based industry to an electronic records system. As the 2016 Report to Congress on HIT Progress shows, at this time, a huge amount of electronic health data exists across the United States, which was not available many years ago. This is a great opportunity for future generations to advance the practitioners’ awareness of decision making towards treatment and quality of care. The electronic health record is now necessary and very convenient for doctors to use towards review patient’s medical history.
In 2009, the U.S. Government passed The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, to promote the adoption and meaningful use of health information technology (Mangalmurti, Murtagh and Mello 2060). The HITECH Act authorizes grants and incentives to promote the “meaningful use” of electronic health records (EHR) by providers (2060). The effect is a high commitment to a technology-led system reform, urging a renewed national commitment to building an information infrastructure to support health care delivery, consumer health, quality measurement and improvement, public accountability, clinical and health services research, and clinical
The healthcare industry is in the midst of a major change from paper based medical record keeping to electronic medical record keeping. As part of the American Recovery and Investment Act of 2009, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act was passed (Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, 2014). HITECH is the U.S. Government’s first major contribution to the change from paper to electronic health information technology by setting meaningful use incentive program for Medicare and Medicaid providers that met certain requirements. Healthcare professionals that meet the meaningful use criteria will be awarded financially, and those that don’t meet the 2015 guideline will be penalized. We live in an electronic world of instant access to information and by adopting health information technology we give providers better and easier access to more information which in turn allows them to make a more informed diagnosis and treatment plan for the patient. The electronic health record (EHR) is part of the new information technology. According to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (2014.), EHR’s provide many benefits such as improvement in the quality of patient care; improvement in the coordination of patient care; more accurate diagnosis and better outcomes; a higher level of patient participation in their own care; and cost savings for the practice
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.
But as noted previously, more is needed than standardizing these processes. Health care providers (physicians and hospitals) should embrace electronic health records (EHRs) and should integrate appropriate information from billing systems with clinical information (the recording and analysis of clinical services) from EHRs (Wikler et al., 2012; Cutler et al., 2012). To address concerns that occur due to accessing medical records, the secretary of health and human services could expand criteria under the Health information Technology for Economic and Clinical
The American health care system is in the midst of a paradigm shift as it transitions away from a paper documentation system towards a total electronic world. The electronic health record is revolutionizing the way health care practitioners, organizations and patients utilize patient information resulting in more efficient and accurate care, which implies better patient outcomes. In an effort to expedite the adoption of the electronic medical record, the United States government implemented an act entitled Meaningful Use which outlines three stages required by all health care systems and providers. The United States government provided financial incentives to ensure that these stages were met. It is imperative that the health care leaders are familiar with the requirements of Meaningful Use and create a timeline to ensure meeting all expectations. This paper will address the history of meaningful use implementation, meaningful use goals, and careful considerations for the health care leaders.
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 is a major component in the United States health care system. It has been proven to improve health care quality by saving time and reducing
With the increase in information technology, it has allowed data to be accessed almost anywhere in the world. Gone are the old ways of looking at data such as going to a data resource centers. In the medical world, Health information technology (HIT) open up vast new opportunities to physicians and medical care providers all over the world. The introduction of Electronic health records (EHR) allows healthcare providers to record patient data digitally and can assist in health care delivery. With EHR being readily available, they can increase the health and span of an individual’s lifetime regardless of socioeconomic status. When looking at American health care, the OECD has the US as one of the worst developed health care systems and a large part of it is due to our health information technology. Health care
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 handwritten documentation has been the usual way of recording medical data since the nineteenth century. However, the fast development of computer technology has led to the advancement and use of electronic medical records (EMRs) throughout the past several decades (Jerant & Hill, 2000). The evolution from a paper to an electronic setting can be somewhat straightforward. The two leading reasons why most facilities chooses to convert to EMRs is patient care and safety. Health-care Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) presented its EMR adoption model in 2005 and now tracks the implementation growth of more than 5000 U.S hospitals (Traynor, 2011).
While HPMG utilization of health information technology in three distinct manners certainly puts them ahead of many healthcare providers back in 2007, with ARRA and ACA, healthcare providers are required to implement electronic health records in some form. By 2013 over 63% of physicians in the United States adopted electronic health records and another 28% have a system partially implemented or plan to implement one in the next two years (The Commonwealth Fund, 2015). With 91% of physicians either having a system implemented or planning to implement, electronic health records are certainly a system that was replicated throughout healthcare in 2014.
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.
The major change from traditional systems to electronic record systems in the healthcare field within the last couple decades has made a huge impact. Patient records, risk management, planning, staff, and more in the organization are affected by the IT staff. “The penetration of Internet access, mobile technologies and social networks collectively offer a future in which it is possible to deliver highly personalized care without necessarily having to do it in person, or even with a doctor.”(Healthcare IT News, n.d.) Many hospitals use paper records for patients long after electronic record technology was available. According to forbes.com in an article published two years ago, less than 2 percent of all healthcare organizations within the United States had and properly deployed information systems.
This chapter covers the background and rationale, statement of the opportunity, purpose, research questions, nature of the study, definition of key terms, the significance of the study, assumptions, and limitations. It also covers the scope, worldview and theoretical foundation depicting the logical path of the research study.