Sheriff’s Department Medical Services Bureau (MSB) will be slowly transitioning to the Department of Health Services (DHS) with changes in e-health technology on May, 2016. MSB is comprised of physicians, nurses, and other clinical/non-clinical staff who provides or support provision of medical care to inmates. This includes assortment groups of on-site primary and specialty care services such as dental and oral surgery, eye care, pharmacy, radiology, laboratory, orthopedics, obstetrics and gynecology, general surgery, urology, HIV, and neurology. While medical staff work hard and are deeply committed to providing appropriate care, the current system that provides health care for inmate-patients faces a variety of challenges related to the organizational structure in which jail health services are provided, the concern models currently in use, care coordination and integration of e-health technologies (County of Los Angeles, 2015). E-Health, which is inclusive of Telemedicine and the use of Electric Medical Records (EMR), is a potential solution to the problems of accessibility, quality and costs of delivering public healthcare services to patients. Although e-health has become quite common in recent years, it remains unclear the degree to which clinicians are able to accept and use these new and rapidly developing technologies. The use of information and communication technologies in healthcare is seen as essential for high quality and cost-effective healthcare. However, implementation of e-health initiatives has often been problematic, with many failing to demonstrate the predicted benefits (Zhang, 2015). The purpose of the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) project is to assess the factors influencing clinician acceptance an... ... middle of paper ... ...nd, the most significant barrier reported was the lack of time to search for, understand, and interpret research findings. Other barriers to adopting evidence based practice (EBP) include inadequate access to information technology (IT), limited IT skills, and lack of information searching skills. Due to its wider adoption of technology in today 's medical fields, the barriers to EBP have received more and more attention in recent studies (Majid et al., 2011). It is critical to understand perceptions of the clinician population in order to maximize the effectiveness of future training strategies. Findings will be used to help guide approaches in providing training on e-health technologies. It is hoped that exposure to demonstration on the one technology identified with the strongest resistance or difficulties will allay anxieties or resistance to use.
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.
E-Health may have developed as an integral platform for the health industry to build upon and shape itself towards the future but this does not cover the drawbacks that this platform carries along. In spite of all the pros of this field, the cons should not be overshadowed as these cons can be a major setback to the rapidly growing and progressing health industry. Because of the infancy of this platform, lack of standards and initial setbacks like the startup cost, regular maintenance and update, privacy protection and some legal issues have been seen as major hurdles to its development.
McBride, S., Delaney, J., & Tietze, M. (2012). Health Information Technology and Nursing. American Journal of Nursing, 112(8). Retrieved from http://www.nursingcenter.com/lnc/pdf?AID=1402619&an=00152258-201301000-00010&Journal_ID=&Issue_ID=
Telemedicine hold a great promise in health information technology, it not only promises to improve health care delivery but it also aids in serving the most vulnerable of patients.
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.
The purpose of telemedicine is to remove distance as a barrier to health care. While telehealth is an accepted resource to bridge the gap between local and global health care, integrating telehealth into existing health infrastructures presents a challenge for both governments and policy makers (HRSA, 2011). Today there are policy barriers that prevent the expansion of telehealth, including reimbursement issues raised by Medicare and private payers, state licensure, and liability and privacy concerns.
“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.
This paper will identify the use of Electronic Health Records and how nursing plays an important role. Emerging in the early 2000’s, utilizing Electronic Health Records have quickly become a part of normal practice. An EHR could help prevent dangerous medical mistakes, decrease in medical costs, and an overall improvement in medical care. Patients are often taking multiple medications, forget to mention important procedures/diagnoses to providers, and at times fail to follow up with providers. Maintaining an EHR could help tack data, identify patients who are due for preventative screenings and visits, monitor VS, & improve overall quality of care in a practice. Nurse informaticists play an important role in the adaptation, utilization, and functionality of an EHR. The impact the EHR could have on a general population is invaluable; therefore, it needs special attention from a trained professional.
Miller, R., & Sim, I. (2004). Use of electronic medical records: Barriers and solutions. Retrieved June 29, 2011, from http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/23/2/116.short
The main barriers to evidence based practice change can include time involvement, access to databases, accountability to use evidence based practice, inability to understand information in research articles, and not knowing what to do with information once found.
Many new technologies are being used in health organizations across the nations, which are being utilized to help improve the quality of health care. Electronic Health Records (EHRs) play a critical role in improving access, quality and efficiency of healthcare ("Electronic health records," 2014). In order to assist in expanding the use of EHR’s, in 2011 The Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS), instituted a EHR incentive program called the Meaningful use Program. This program was instituted to encourage and expand the use of the HER, by providing health professional and health organizations yearly incentive payments when they demonstrate meaningful use of the EHR ("Medicare and medicaid," 2014). The Meaningful use program will be explored including its’ implications for nurses, nursing, national policy, how the population health data relates to Meaningful use data collection in various stages and finally recommendations for beneficial improvement for patient outcomes and population health and more.
Unfortunately, the quality of health care in America is flawed. Information technology (IT) offers the potential to address the industry’s most pressing dilemmas: care fragmentation, medical errors, and rising costs. The leading example of this is the electronic health record (EHR). An EHR, as explained by HealthIT.gov (n.d.), is a digital version of a patient’s paper chart. It includes, but is not limited to, medical history, diagnoses, medications, and treatment plans. The EHR, then, serves as a resource that aids clinicians in decision-making by providing comprehensive patient information.
Did you ever think about how much time is spent on computers and the internet? It is estimated that the average adult will spend over five hours per day online or with digital media according to Emarketer.com. This is a significant amount; taking into consideration the internet has not always been this easily accessible. The world that we live in is slowly or quickly however you look at it: becoming technology based and it is shifting the way we live. With each day more and more people use social media, shop online, run businesses, take online classes, play games, the list is endless. The internet serves billions of people daily and it doesn’t stop there. Without technology and the internet, there would be no electronic health record. Therefore, is it important for hospitals and other institutions to adopt the electronic health record (EHR) system? Whichever happens, there are many debates about EHR’s and their purpose, and this paper is going to explain both the benefits and disadvantages of the EHR. Global users of the internet can then decide whether the EHR is beneficial or detrimental to our ever changing healthcare system and technology based living.
Advances in technology have influences our society at home, work and in our health care. It all started with online banking, atm cards, and availability of children’s grades online, and buying tickets for social outings. There was nothing electronic about going the doctor’s office. Health care cost has been rising and medical errors resulting in loss of life cried for change. As technologies advanced, the process to reduce medical errors and protect important health care information was evolving. In January 2004, President Bush announced in the State of the Union address the plan to launch an electronic health record (EHR) within the next ten years (American Healthtech, 2012).