Health Ehr Policy Pros And Cons

In her assessment of the American Reinvestment & Recovery Act (ARRA), Murphy (2009) discusses how its enactment provided unprecedented funding for the advancement of health information technology (HIT) which served to promote health care reform. Electronic health records (EHRs) by extension received a boost via incentivization for appropriate use in hospitals and ambulatory settings (Murphy, 2009). The benefits of EHRs include the ability to improve the delivery and quality of nursing care, the ability to make more timely and efficient nursing care decisions for nursing, the ability to avoid errors that might harm patients and the ability to promote health and wellness for the patients (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2015).

Other than HIPAA, Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act is a major federal policy initiative that affects the healthcare information technology (HIT) in the past years. However, its policy is used to protect the EHR system from a security breach that can cause multi-million dollar fines to the company (Campus Safety Magazine, 2010). In 2009, President Obama signed HITECH Act as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to support the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) with authority, so it can establish programs that will improve healthcare quality, safety, and efficiency using HIT (Hebda & Czar, 2013).

Technology and the evolution of Electronic Health Records is an improvement to the efficiency and the effectiveness of how healthcare providers record, communicate and process patient information. According to Practice Fusion, “since 2005, the focus of Practice Fusion is expanding the ability to aggregate clinical data and share it meaningfully, by helping to make healthcare better for everyone. To improve clinical decision, support to tracking Meaningful Use, and provide insight that deliver better, safer and more efficient

Health Information Exchange (HIE) sounds like a lofty concept but it enables health care professionals and patients to securely share and access a patient’s vital medical information electronically. It is the ability to transmit healthcare information across organizations within a healthcare system such as a hospital, a community, state or region. state. In this paper, I will focus on the key concerns of healthcare leaders have about health information exchanges and whether it has helped healthcare in terms of delivery, quality of care and cost savings. Also, whether health information exchanges have become an essential part of the healthcare system and how close is the United States to the goal of nationwide implementation.

The role of an EHR Consultant is responsible for working with practices to achieve National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) certification along with successfully developing, implementing, coordinating, facilitating and managing critical elements of the EHR project. They provide technical support for the implementation of EHR and other HIT technologies before and during implementation of health IT systems in clinical and public health setting. Some principal duties that go along with the job include: Responsible for managing all aspects of the EHR implementation. This includes: assistance with configuration, operation site assessment, workflow assessment, overseeing training on the application,

A research called “The Delphi Study” was conducted to study perspectives of the main factors that apply EHRs in Canada. Key stakeholders from different groups were carefully selected and asked to participate in a qualitative experiment for the Delphi technique questionnaires (Users’ perspectives of key factors to implementing electronic health records in Canada: A Delphi study, 2011). The two different groups of people that played a part in the study were physicians and non-physicians. After the study was conducted, the overall results of the Delphi study stated that a few factors such as productivity, management, motivation, and usefulness of EHR should be focused on to better implement this system in Canadian health care (Users’ perspectives

Some benefits to electronic medical health records for healthcare providers is the capability of more complete reporting that incorporates both clinical and administrative data. Pros also include operational efficiency, the capabilities to process and store data quickly, patient’s history, diagnostic test results and even medical imaging. The confidentiality is a concern when it comes to electronic health records. Identity theft can arise when unauthorized people get access to private and sensitive records. There is less communication amongst healthcare providers and the patient. The cost of all the computers and training can get expensive. One issue that we have all had to experience is if the computer crashes that will slow things down

Health information exchange (HIE) is defined as “the electronic movement of health-related information among organizations according to nationally recognized standards” . Occasionally, HIE is also called health information network (HIN). HIE lets doctors, pharmacists, nurses, radiologists, lab technicians and other health care providers and patients to properly access and securely share a patient’s vital medical information electronically. This will lead to an improving in the safety, cost, speed and quality of patient care. The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, enacted as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) , was signed

EDI stands for Electronic Data Interchange which is the computer to computer exchange of business documents in a standard electronic format between business partners. EDI replaces postal mail, fax, and email. While email is an electronic way to communicate, the documents exchanged via email is a task an actual person has to take on instead of a computer. Having people involved slows down the processing of the documents and accumulates a lot of errors. Instead of having that issue documents can flow directly through to the appropriate application on the receivers computer and processing can begin immediately. A typical manual process involves lots of paper and people while EDI process has no people and no paper.

Electronic Medical Records (EMR) are the digital version of the traditional paper based medical records. EMRs are only for a single facility such as a physician’s office or a hospital/clinic. When the EMRs of patients are brought together they become the Electronic Health Records (EHR). This is a more comprehensive patient history. There are many cons of the EMRs and EHRs and they include financial issues, changes in the workflow of the facility, putting the patients privacy at risk and finally unintended consequence can arise from it’s use.

The way Patient Care is Improved, is by providing things like…Creating clinical alerts and reminders, Giving support for diagnostic and therapeutic decisions, Improving aggregation, analysis, and communication of patient information, AND Built-in safeguards against potential adverse events.

An electronic healthcare record, EHR, is a computerized repository for a patient 's health information providing information to members of the health care team regarding a clinical encounter. Many systems can also provide decision support, quality assurance information and outcome data. EHR’s are used in modern medical practices. As of 2014, 83% of office-based physicians and 97% of hospitals have adopted EHRs; there is a large gap when it comes to the dental industry.

Most healthcare organizations are trying to develop integrated computer-based information-management surroundings. The EHR as an integrated system is expected to be accessible, confidential, secure and acceptable to patients and clinicians. It should be integrated with other type of useful information to help in planning and problem solving. The EHR is also expected to monitor patient safety. EHR system can bring about positive effects when the technologies are designed, implemented and used appropriately. However, if designed and used improperly then it can result in unintended consequences. In fact, EHR which is believed to improve quality of care and reduce adverse drug events can introduce errors if not properly regulated.

There is no stopping technology. It has infiltrated every aspect of our lives. Information is more accessible and there is a market to satisfy our need to be informed. The population is considerably more educated and feel empowered enough to voice their opinion concerning their own health. With this growing awareness, it is understandable that the government and health care organization would be on board to implement a digital system to allow patients access to their own information. The Personal Health Record is a digital program that consist of the demographic data, medical history, medications, physical and diagnostic exams of the member. The information generated by different providers can be consolidated and

The ROI of EHRs article breaks down the importance of Electronic health records. Healthcare leaders need to have an open-mind about electronic health records to gain a better organized system. Health organizations spend billions trying to find a working system instead of changing to the electronic health records system. Most organizations are making their IT department play bigger role working along with physicians to make electronic health records a key component of healthcare facilities making EHRs an effective program.