Introduction
The transition from the industrial age to the information age has transformed nearly all sectors globally. Information and communication technology is one of the fast-changing departments in any industry or organization. In the health sector, for example, the implementation of Electronic Health Records has been a major issue of concern to most institutions of the world. There are multiple benefits as well as barriers to successful implementation of these programs, especially in line with communication. Just as in the research conducted by Bishop et al (2013) states, it can be noted that the organizations that were sampled for the study have taken the initiative positively as a result of the multiple benefits. This, however, comes
…show more content…
The patients are attended to much faster and conveniently as compared to the case of traditional paper or face-to-face communication with the attendants. The patents no longer have to wait in long queues to acquire medical services. The electronic medical records enable quick data transfer and processing alongside provision of the most appropriate diagnosis for the conditions of the patients attended to.
The new communication systems also give patients additional satisfaction as compared to the traditional techniques. Patients are delighted at the quality of communication services that come along with the program. As pointed out by one of the physicians at Colorado Permanente, the system is patient-centred and a real satisfier to them (Bishop et al., 2013). The positive feedback that is received from the patients is a clear indicator that the move towards adoption of the electronic communication services in the health sector is aimed at value creation for the
…show more content…
Resistance to change is often a challenge that any new system faces. There are attendants that have been using the old communication systems to the extent that acceptance of the electronic services becomes a challenge. The same resistance is also witnessed from patients that prefer using methods that they are conversant with. This makes it difficult to put in place new programs that are aimed at improving the quality of communication.
Other than resistance, there are also cost implications on the medical facilities. The initial set-up costs are substantial (DePhillips, 2011). Expensive equipment such as workstations, routers, servers, data cables, printers and software have to be acquired. Most of these costs are not charged on the patients. There are also cumulative maintenance costs that have to be realized with continuous use of the electronic communication
Over the last several years, electronic medical records are becoming more prominent in health care facilities, replacing traditional written records. As many electronics are becoming more prevalent with the invention of numerous smartphones and tablet devices, it seems that making medical records available electronically would be appropriate for the evolving times. Even though they have been in use to some extent for many years, the “Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health section of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has brought paperless documentation into the spotlight” (Eisenberg, 2010, p. 8). The systems of electronic medical records mainly consist of clinical note taking, prescription and medication documentation,
For years now, the healthcare system in the United States have managed patient’s health records through paper charting, this has since changed for the better with the introduction of an electronic medical record (EMR) system. This type of system has helped healthcare providers, hospitals and other ambulatory institutions extract data from a patient’s chart to help expedite clinical diagnosis and providing necessary care. Although this form of technology shows great promise, studies have shown that this system is just a foundation to the next evolution of health technology. The transformation of EMR to electronic heath record system (EHR) is the ultimate goal of the federal government.
Montague and Asan (2013) did a field study where 100 patients’ ages 18 through 65 were observed and video recorded during their visit in a primary health clinic. The researchers wanted to see how much communication and eye contact the physicians would do with their patients when using paper charting compared to using computer charting in the EHR. The results of the study showed that physicians paid more attention to the EHR on the computer then they did their actual patients 46.5% of the time and 79% when they used paper charting (Montague & Asan, 2013). The studies showed that EHRs could hinder communication between patients and their
It was just yesterday when Electronic health records was just introduced in healthcare industry. People were not ready to accept it due to higher cost and consumption of time associated in training people and adopting new technology. Despite of all this criticism, use of Internet and Electronic Health records are now gaining its popularity among health care professionals, as it is the most effective way to communicate with patient and colleagues. More and more hospitals and clinics are getting rid of paper base filling system and investing in cloud base storage.
Telemedicine can make specialty care more accessible to rural and medically underserved communities and can easily connect providers a...
Healthcare professionals associated with medical billing and coding know the progress the technology has made so far. In the last few decades, medical billing and coding has switched from being a paper-based system to a computerized format. Under HIPAA laws, medical practitioners had to develop new software in order to send out electronic bills. With the advent of electronic medical records (EMR), with one touch of a button, doctors, Nurse Practitioners and PAs can gain access to all the care a patient has ever received from every healthcare facility the patients visited previously and can figure out possible illnesses. This enables statistical documentation of the population as a whole as well. EMR can also make the healthcare system more transparent and allow integration with reimbursement data. As the healthcare system changes, this will prevent unnecessary costs and make it easier to get the reimbursements needed to treat a patient.
The purpose of this paper is to discuss how Electronic Medical Records (EMR), affects healthcare delivery. I will discuss the positives and negatives this issue has on healthcare and how it effects the cost and quality for healthcare services. In addition, I will identify any potential trade-offs to cost or quality. Lastly, I will discuss how the EMR affects my job as well as any challenges or opportunities this issue presents.
“An electronic health record (EHR) is a digital version of a patient’s paper chart. EHRs are real-time, patient-centered records that make information available instantly and securely to authorized users.” (healthit.gov) The EHR mandate was created “to share information with other health care providers and organizations – such as laboratories, specialists, medical imaging facilities, pharmacies, emergency facilities, and school and workplace clinics – so they contain information from all clinicians involved in a patient’s care.” ("Providers & Professionals | HealthIT.gov", n.d., p. 1) The process has proved to be quite challenging for providers. As an incentive, the government began issuing payments to those providers who “meaningfully use certified electronic health record (EHR) technology.” (hhs.gov) There are three stages that providers must progress through in order to receive theses financial incentives. Stage one is the initial stage and is met with the creation and implementation of the HER in the business. Stage two “increases health information exchange between providers.” ("United States Department of Health and Human Services | HHS.gov", n.d., p. 1) Stage three will be the continuation and expansion of the “meaningful use objectives.” ("United States Department of Health and Human Services | HHS.gov", n.d., p. 1) The hospital, where I work, initiated the HER mandate many years ago. In this paper, I will discuss the progression and the challenges that my hospital encountered while implementing the EHR mandate.
Due to the fact that many patients during times of stress and trauma are unable to recall a substantial amount of their health history and medications, using electronic records would really help a new doctor on their case figure out how to provide the best healthcare outcomes for them. The way the healthcare system works today, many people are able to see any doctor they would like depending on the type of health insurance they have acquired. Unless the client is very diligent about getting copies of the medical records, or having the records faxed, many primary care physicians never receive records from other care providers. This causes a lot of disjointed medical care. The use of electronic medical records could really alleviate this problem. It is very important for clients to receive continuity of care. For the best patient healthcare outcomes, their care must be streamlined. In essence, this means that all of their comorbidities, medical history, and past surgeries would be in one place and able to be accessed when
This article addresses major aspects such as clinical trial, integrated decision support and guidance, inadequacy of paper record, and data entry. The reason that paper records are not a match for modern medicine is that they are not accessible buy multiple health professionals causing a delay in response to health care, confidentiality and security is a risk granted that anyone could physically change the record and it would become official. The author of this article predicted the basic electronic medical record features that are available today, back in 1999 and the features include integrated clinical workstations with the computational power that can assist with clinical matters, financial and administrative topics, research, and scholarly information. This report indicates that having electronic records can provide efficiency throughout the system of health care for instance the example presented in this article was the process of admission, discharge and transfer of a patient can be changed drastically due to it initially taking hours to going from in and out in minutes. This article will provide the foundation of EMR’s and how time for reform had come more than a decade ago and it’s time for reform once again. With the examples and strategic tactics provided, it is fairly simple to display the evolution of Electronic medical records from
The preliminary effects of the Meaningful Use Program have began to have an impact on improving the quality of care and its’ safety and efficiency. I gained a greater understanding of information technology and it’s role and importance to my current and future practice. I learned the goal of the Meaningful Use Program isn’t just to install technology in facilities across the nation its so much more. The goals are to empower patients and their families, reduce health disparities and support research and health data. The EHR can prevent medication errors, reduce long term medical costs, improve population health and through the Meaningful use program the vision of this program is becoming reality.
The present environments for healthcare organizations contain many forces demanding unprecedented levels of change. These forces include changing demographics, increased customer outlook, increased competition, and strengthen governmental pressure. Meeting these challenges will require healthcare organizations to go through fundamental changes and to continuously inquire about new behavior to produce future value. Healthcare is an information-intensive process. Pressures for management in information technology are increasing as healthcare organizations feature to lower costs, improve quality, and increase access to care. Healthcare organizations have developed better and more complex. Information technology must keep up with the dual effects of organizational complication and continuous progress in medical technology. The literature review will discuss how health care organizations can provide effective care by the intellectual use of information.
From state and federal levels, the healthcare industry has come a very long way, experiencing changes along the way. The development of advanced technology that has enhanced the quality of healthcare delivery systems will help all patients to be able to benefit. Doctors are able to access patient records at a faster rate and respond to their patients in a much more timely fashion. E-mail, electronic transfer of records and telemedicine will give all patients and physicians the tools needed to be more efficient, deliver quality care and deliver quality telecommunication at a faster pace than before.
Although the technology is kept on advancing from day to day, there are some clinics that are still using old method in handling their records. Piles of files in registry counter sometimes make the place looks messy and it takes a large space to store all the records of their patients. Sometimes, they cannot find a record due to misplace and the records might be lost. Each time they want to retrieve the records, they have to find based on the series number which sometimes the file is placed not according to the series number. This process will take more time than it should be. There are some clinics that are already implementing an electronic medical record and it gives positive impacts to their record management. Other than reduce time in retrieval the records of patients, the system also help to manage all the records efficiently. Besides that, by using this kind of system, the use of large space can be reduced. Same goes to the cost, the organization (clinic) can save more in terms of stationary and they do not have to hire many workers to manage their records.
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has been shown to be increasingly important in the education or training and professional practice of healthcare. This paper discusses the impacts of using ICT in Healthcare and its administration. Health Information technology has availed better access to information, improved communication amongst physicians, clinicians, pharmacists and other healthcare workers facilitating continuing professional development for healthcare professionals, patients and the community as a whole. This paper takes a look at the roles, benefits of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in healthcare services and goes on to outline the ICT proceeds/equipment used in the health sector such as the