Electronic Health Records (EHR)

Introduction

The scope of the nursing practice is changing with the improvement of technology. Computer and information technology is just as important to nurses as their stethoscopes, so implementing and using Medical Information Technology (MEDITECH) an Electronic Health Records (EHR) is vital in improving patient care. The importance and knowledge of the possibilities and limitations of EHR systems is brought up throughout this paper. Chilton Hospital and Fairmont General Hospital review their possibilities and limitations about using MEDITECH. Some possibilities include Evidence-Based Documentation, Multidisciplinary Collaboration, Patient Safety, Care Quality, Care Specialties, Time Efficiency, and so on. Some limitations of the MEDITECH

MEDITECH flashes errors and warnings to make sure the nurse double-checks the orders (Hunter, 2011). Another plus to using MEDITECH is that allergy checking is done automatically, as well as dose checking, and the ability relevant clinical data accessibility (Hunter, 2011). An example of a safety check was available with blood glucose levels. MEDITECH would have you type in the amount calibrated from the glucometer and underneath the place where you typed the number was a list of normal ranges (Hunter, 2011). This allowed nurses to understand what is normal and what is abnormal and needs intervention. A great tool that is also seen in MEDITECH is the ability for lab values that maybe critical for medication administration will automatically pop up when a medication is selected (Hunter, 2011). Another pro was parallel testing. Parallel testing of Medication Administration with MEDITECH included a four week parallel test that involved the nurses document on paper as well as online before the online documentation was put into the official record (Hunter, 2011). It also included an 8-hour class on MEDITECH. Everyone that did not do the 4-week parallel test had to take the 8-hour class as well as perform Medication Administration on a floor with experienced nurses that had already

The expansion of MEDITECH is vast as well as technology advancement. At Chilton Memorial Hospital the implementation of MEDITECH aided in quicker access to results and information that helped support better decision-making and decreased the amount of medication errors by using the system correctly. MEDITECH increase safety to both the patient and nurse. Errors in systems are inevitable but it is important that nurses use technology as and aid to their job and remember not to fully rely on technology. Fairmont General Hospital was able to reduce documentation time after setbacks with repetitive charting and system issues. Both hospitals are still using MEDITECH to this day and MEDITECH seems like a very well known company and productive EHR