“Meaningful use” is “using certified technology in EHR implementation to improve quality, safety, efficiency, and reduce health disparities; engage patients and families; improve care coordination; and maintain privacy and security of patient health information” (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2013). The federal government has encouraged EHR use in hopes that it will significantly improve patient care. There is the intent that electronic health records will allow any provider access to important patient health information no matter where the patient is, while “creating a comprehensive national electronic health information network that leads to a reduction in the duplication of tests, an improvement in the cost-effectiveness of interventions, and the ability to compile a comprehensive patient history” (McBride, Delaney, Tietze, 2012). While the implementation of EHR’s has good intent, an important question is, “How are the implementation of EHRs having an effect on emergency nursing and patient care?” Benefits of EHR Use in the Emergency Department Nurses are... ... middle of paper ... ...ers to consider long-term benefits. (2012).
Building an Improved Infrastructure for Collection & Analysis of Nursing Workforce Data Healthcare Reform The Affordable Care Act (ACA) was passed in 2010 with the goal of expanding healthcare coverage to all Americans by reforming insurance policies and practices (Tillett, 2011). The ACA upsurges the demand for an increase in primary care providers in order to supply quality care to the much larger population that will have coverage and therefore acquiring healthcare. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) through its report The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health has generated a solution to the shortage of primary care providers by promoting a transformation of the nursing profession to fill the gap. The IOM report had four key messages needed for advancing the future of nursing. “Nurses should practice to the full extent of their education and training; achieve higher levels of education and training through an improved education system that promotes seamless academic progression; be full partners, with physicians and other health care professionals, …and; effective workforce planning and policy making require better data collection and an improved information infrastructure” (Institute of Medicine, 2011).
No longer will they just practice in brick and mortar hospitals. Because of the recently instituted Medicare, reimbursement regulations after patients are discharge from the hospital more nurses will be in the field performing well patient checks. These nurses will ensure the follow through of discharge instructions; assist in coordinating follow up physician and ancillary appointment all in the attempt to reduce transmission of nosocomial infections and re-hospitalization. The ACA allows Medicare to withhold payments for readmission of patients with certain diagnoses like myocardial infarction and pneumonia (The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2014). Another way the ACA will cause changes in health care is the mandate from Medicaid to increased quality and safety for reimbursement, all independent physicians will be required to convert to electronic medical records also known as Computerized Physician Order Entry (C.P.O.E) ("Department Of Health And Human Service," 2014).
This program is Pay for performance. Pay for performance (P4P) programs promise to improve quality, reduce cost, and higher income for health providers. Pay for performance is about rewarding incentives to physicians, hospitals, and other healthcare providers for quality of care. These programs are developed by health plans such as commercial insurances, government insurances, and private insurances that will be evaluating healthcare providers: ... ... middle of paper ... ...information technology that allow electronic medical records to be created and sent. Some health plans such as Medicare has plans to include incentives to promote the use of Health Information Technology (HIT) in P4P programs.
Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1477880055?accountid=45049 Sheps, S. B., & Cardiff, K. (2011). Patient safety: A wake-up call. Clinical Governance, 16(2), 148-158. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/14777271111124509 Sultz A. H. & Young, M. K. (2010). Health Care USA. BL: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
The goal for electronic health is to unite all healthcare by making patient records available to all providers in order to improve the quality of care patients receive. eHealth can be adopted into hospitals, physicians’ offices, and even ambulatory services. A 2006 study found, “Ambulatory EHRs improve the structure of care delivery, improve clinical processes, and enhance outcomes” (Shekelle 61). With professionals working together, procedures, scans, tests, and even visits to the hospital can be eliminated and in turn reduce the hospital’s expenses. However, this reduction may not add up to the investment the facilities will have to make.
and the EHR improves this tremendously. Another great aspect of the EHR is that it involves the participation of the patient. It is crucial to make the patient participates when they are diagnosed with a chronic condition such as diabetes or cancer. With the EHR nurses and providers can ... ... middle of paper ... ...ds to be incorporated into every medical facility in the United States if it hasn’t already been installed. The most important benefiting factor coming from the EHR is that patient quality and outcomes have been outstanding.
The Affordable Care Act is providing coverage to everyone who wants to be insured. ACT is also providing a better quality of care to outpatient facilities. Plans to increase efficiency and save money through care coordination programs and to save money. The outpatient facility we will strive to provide adequate training to employees to there may be fewer accidents to patients and staff. Reducing unnecessary treatment and limiting the cost to the organization is another way we can be accountable.
Summary of literature The privacy and security of the health information exchange can be further improved by monitoring access to the electronic records, increasing physician knowledge and awar... ... middle of paper ... ...ecure, and the privacy rule insures that. The health information exchange does much more than share patient data. It provides better opportunity to increase quality of care; it saves money related to healthcare costs for hospital organizations in many ways, and increases efficiency by minimizing all the unnecessary paperwork. The HIE is a great way for patients to stay connected with their primary care providers and is a much easier way for patients to stay engaged in their own health care. Patients have the opportunity to share their health information through the exchange, which provides for improvement in public health and monitoring.
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality(AHRQ) published the Health Literacy Universal Precautions Toolkit, a self-assessment tool to direct quality increase in health literacy in primary care. The toolkit is built on the rules of the universal precautions, to help guide the healthcare professionals to create health materials understandable to the patients. The National Action Plan to Improve Health Literacy is a policy document to use to improve health literacy. The policy is founded on two values (1) everyone has the right to health information that helps them make informed decisions and (2) health services should be delivered in ways that are understandable and beneficial to health, longevity, and quality of life (Healthy People 2020). Effective communication is a cornerstone of patient safety (The Joint Commission, 2007, p. 5).