Stanford EMR Implementation: Case Analysis This case analysis of Stanford’s Hospital and Clinics (SHC) electronic medical record (EMR) system implementation will focus on how the healthcare organization focused on resolving a problem to meet regulatory pressures and responded to an opportunity to create operational efficiency, by capitalizing on the use of information technology to help reduce costs. We will discuss the organization’s IT problems, opportunities, and the alternatives available to address each. We will summarize an analysis of potential alternatives including the organization’s EMR system of choice and conclude with a recommendation to the Board on how to rollout the new system. Problems and Opportunities SHC mission was to care, to educate, and to discover for the benefit of patients and larger community. Multiple problems and opportunities were present within the organization’s IT infrastructure that needed to be resolved before implementing an EMR system. The case stated, “In the early 2000s, SHC was in no shape to support an EMR system comparable to other healthcare groups” (Denend & Zenios, 2010). They needed to fix their existing IT infrastructure in order to resolve network, security, and regulatory compliance (HIPPA) issues. After addressing these concerns, they could focus on a solution for an EMR system. The strategic motivation behind implementing an EMR system was to reduce cost, meet competitive (internal and external) pressures, improve
Making the switch to an electronic medical records system will help to bring forth health care advances with the systems data quality and availability. This research study uses focus groups and surveys to get the opinions of different health care providers and some patients on what they think EMR will do for the health care industry. Literature related to EMR was reviewed to get a better understanding of the benefits and barriers of electronic medical records. The study uses data from
Drew Madden is a Healthcare IT entrepreneur who is passionate about Electronic Medical Records and also building high caliber teams that are unique and attractive to corporate culture, and trusted partnerships with clients. Drew has spent over a decade collaborating with the talented stakeholders in the industry to implement, optimize, managing, troubleshoot, and advise on complex challenges accompanying an EMR project. His unique ability to infuse technical EMR background, his experience in project management and consulting operations, enable healthcare IT leaders to build successful implementation teams. He holds a B.S.E. in Industrial Engineering majoring in Medical Systems from the University
The rapid development of technology is directly impacting the design and direction of the EHR. As medical devices are smaller and more user friendly, patients are being involved in reporting and this will be incorporated into the EHR. In addition to technological changes, EHRs have evolved in relation to consumer needs. Originally the EHRs were focused
As an organization that pride itself on continuous improvement it is time to move away from an electronic medical record (EMR) to an electronic health record (EHR). The organization currently utilizes three different EMR, each for different reasons. This has and will continue to make accessing patient information difficult and inefficient as access to each database is dependent on individuals role within the organization. Overall, this will continue to influence patient care negatively. Currently, only nurses have the ability to enter and change orders, therefore, all orders must be given verbally to the nurse or be written down. Further, the system only contains information of each clinics patients and not across the
In order to be compliant with the mandates requiring healthcare providers to adopt electronic medical records and billing system, the clinic is faced with a major undertaking. In spite of incentives or penalties, the practice realizes that adopting an EMR will increase quality care, while improving communication, and tracking patient outcomes. As part of our strategic planning process, I have challenged all managers to dissect, and understand the details surrounding the HITECH Act, and begin providing education to the staff. I have also assembled a task force that will explore the best path
In evaluating the plans of the Leonard Williams Medical Center (LWMC) and its subsidiary business entity, the Williams Medical Services (WMS), the overall objective is to implement new technology in the form of an Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system in order to streamline workflow, provide safe and quality care for patients and remain competitive with other healthcare facilities in providing these components with the use of advanced technology. The implementation of an EMR is the desire of the physician group, WMS, who refuses to listen to
In healthcare settings, it often comes up when documentation and information on use of electronic health records are not communicated effectively. The organization and its investors decided to transfer over to a new electronic health record (EHR) system —connecting care across the New England area and the healthcare continuum through three services. This new EHR system would drive results with industry-leading services, from practice management and EHR to population health services. These three services were crucial to industry success and were designed with the following formula: Network+Knowledge+Work=Results. When presenting the new EHR system to physicians, the project team requested the clinical providers ask themselves a few questions as they assessed the transition. A few of the questions that physicians asked themselves include:
This case study is based on the integration of electronic medical records known as EMR. The integration process came from Dryden, New York and was tested by a small medical practice named Dryden Family Medicine. The practice has been known for its outstanding family based services given to their community. The implementation process of EMRs doesn’t come without risks, but with its outstanding paper based medical record keeping that continued to expand as the practice grew left the Dryden Family practice no other choice but to try out something new in hopes for a better outcome.
EMR concerns are plaguing the health care industry today that requires change. Healthcare professionals, such as nurses, are on the front lines in the defense against medical errors. Closing the gap between current clinical and hospital practices and the various approaches to improving patient safety requires changes that are cultural and systemic in nature. The greatest challenge to hospitals using an EMR system is the expense of the new system, and the challenge nurses face with technology adoption in usage of EMR and protection of records. Even though spending depends on both the hospital size and the technologies were chosen, implementation and installation of a Health Information Technology system, which includes EMR, are often multi-year investments. The transition from a paper-based system to an electronic system is a very complicated process within every hospital establishment. The transformation is time-consuming and involves numerous staff from across the hospital, including Information Technology personnel, physicians, nurses, ancillary providers, etc. Although hospitals work hard at managing the changes required to move toward an electronic environment, there is no guarantee that hospital personnel will properly utilize the expensive new IT system or EMR. Therefore, the training in the EMR integration is required to all medical staff to have an efficient and uncomplicated system.
In efforts to reform the United States healthcare system and create a nationally unified data exchange system the federal government has established an incentive program to eligible professionals and hospitals. The federal government has turned to certified electronic health record (EHR) technology to help facilitate the process of broadening health IT infrastructures. The federal government views EHR system used in meaningful ways as the key to reforming the healthcare systems. Meaningful use of the EHR systems can also improve the overall quality of healthcare, insure patient safety, as well as reduce the cost of healthcare to individuals (Bigalke & Morris, 2010, p. 116).
Technology has had a role in healthcare for some time, but only recently has it matured to a point where it can support operational, business and clinical functions of healthcare organizations. In the past, many hospitals used technology for specialized departments and unique roles, but the concept of a complete electronic health record system did not exist until the early 2000’s. The American Hospital Association (AHA) Information Technology (IT) Supplement to the AHA Annual Survey stated that in 2008 only 9.4% of hospitals had a basic electronic health record (EHR) system (HealthIT EHR, 2014). They defined a basic EHR as having electronic clinical information that includes results and the ability to enter and view clinical notes. Without the ability for healthcare organizations to capture clinical information electronically, an online patient engagement solution cannot
Currently, the healthcare industry only spends 2% of gross revenues on health information technology, while the banking industry spends upwards of 10%. However, the Veterans Healthcare System is one of the largest integrated systems in the world. One hundred fifty-five hospitals and eight hundred clinics rely on one electronic health system (Gupta & Murtaza, 2009). Implementing information systems in hospitals is more challenging than elsewhere because of the complexity of medical data, data entry problems, security and confidentiality concerns and a general lack of awareness of the benefits of Information Technology (Boonstra et al., 2014). The newly implemented system must be reliable from the onset as patient care does not cease in the meantime. Technology has the potential to streamline current practices and reduce costs, however, hospitals must consider the potential risks and consequences of a poorly implemented project and agree that failure is not an option. Good project planning and management can assure success of Electronic Health Record
When implementing a new EHR, departments need to have a plan in place when the system causes change to the process and design within the organization. Often times, regulations and policies need to be changed to coincide with a new system in place, such as a new EHR program (University of Scranton, 2017). A way to mitigate this situation is to start at the federal level’s regulations and work down the scope from there. This will guarantee that mandatory rules are still being followed and there is successful transition into future policies. Additionally, funding will be crucial to the organization’s ability to have a new EHR system. Each department needs to ensure they are properly tracking funds and that they can afford to upgrade.
For a medium-sized urban hospital with 160 beds and 1,500 associates to be able to gain the trust and confidence of patients and compete with mega-hospitals in the healthcare industry, the management of the hospital would have to explore new technologies that would enhance the quality of services and patient care rendered to customers. Further, to ensure that all the departments in the hospitals such as ICUs, mother & baby, emergency services, radiology, oncology, surgery, and operating room (OR) would have to function efficiently and improve the patient experience. New EMR application would improve the security of patient’s information and ensure timely retrieval of medical records such that the quality of diagnosis would be enhanced significantly. As the IT director, it is my responsibility to make sure that the hospital system has a robust IT network that would enable efficient information flow within
Health care organizations that choose to convert to an electronic medical record system (EMR) have several advantages; most important it increases patient safety, efficiency, cost-effectiveness and security. Accepting such a transition also presents with its share of challenges like preparing for the required significant time obligation and resources that will make the transition a successful one. Leadership and management must create an atmosphere that will get the buy-in of all stakeholders. Providing information about the process and what methods will be best to make the conversion to an EMR system is an important aspect of the implementation