Adopting a meaningful use Stage 2 ready Urgent Care EHR system is essential for patient safety, continuity of care, efficient billing and accurate patient health records management. Seamless integration. Eliminate errors and duplication with a system that allows data input from first contact point to flow automatically to the cloud-based patient record and then on to the billing module upon checkout. ICD-10 Readiness. A well-designed urgent care EHR system protects your assets, improves collections and facilitates higher reimbursement rates. Torrey Barnhouse, CEO of a healthcare medical coding consulting firm, says coding goes beyond laying the foundational groundwork for documenting information.2 In fact, Torrey suggests that ICD-10 impacts virtually everything from cash flow to reputation. E-prescribing tools. Improve quality of care with error-free, comprehensible prescriptions sent digitally to a pharmacist from the exam room or treatment center. Compatible with digital devices. Some studies suggest that most 21st century patients expect their providers to be able to access patient records digitally and consult with other medical professionals in real-time. Connected urgent care center systems are compatible with tablets, iPhones, and Android devices. Patient portals add flexibility and control. Citing data collected in a multinational survey among 3,700 healthcare practitioners, Rick Ratliff, Accenture US, reports that 91% of polled professionals use EHR's, but only 10% think they communicate effectively and efficiently with patients online. 3 Patient portals enhance patient-provider communication, while providing patients with health-management tools to request refills, schedule appointments and initiate email conversations with providers. Predefined Urgent Care Templates. Predefined and customizable templates specifically designed for urgent care settings increase efficiency and improve accuracy. Integrated voice recognition. Speech recognition technology solidifies patient-physician relationships. Dictating relevant information is less arduous and time consuming than manually entering patient history and health concerns. Integrated technology allows physicians ample opportunity to observe subtle physical and emotional cues during the exam. Enhanced interfaces. Streamline data sharing with bi-directional capabilities for breath alcohol analyzers, blood pressure apparatus, and devices like the ones below. X-ray and imaging equipment Pulse oximeters Heart (Holter) monitors Spirometry Glucometers Bilingual support. According to recent US Census Bureau data, more than 37 million people in the US speak Spanish in their home environment. 4 Access to Spanish and English EHR documents ensures portable records are accurate and complete.
Cornerstone also allows a practice and their clients to interact in various ways such as sending automatic reminders by mail and/or email. Clients can also confirm via email or text with the confirmation recorded in Cornerstone automatically. Customized alerts pop up when checking in clients such as patient temperament, overdue procedures and vaccines as well as alerts when clients have cancelled or missed appointments. Ultrasounds, x-rays and even patient profile pictures can be stored and easily accessed when needed. Patient Records such as urinalysis, cytologies, ultrasound reports, x-rays and SOAP notes are kept in chronological order in the patient summary section for easy access. Templates for surgeries, SOAPS, Vitals, routine wellness checks as well as necropsy requests and reports can be easily accessed and customized through the Cornerstone software. Cornerstone is also able to import lab results directly from the lab into the medical record. Labels for prescriptions as well as cage cards and collars can be easily printed for clear and concise patient care and safety. Cornerstone’s billing and invoicing system allows doctors to add treatments for hospitalized or boarding patients while simultaneously creating an itemized bill. Cornerstone can also process payments and accepts all major credit cards. Through a partnership with MWI Veterinary Supply, Cornerstone enables a practice to place MWI orders directly through Cornerstone, providing complete tracking of inventory. IntraVet offers a real time inventory control system to track common inventory values, such as average cost, ratios of products bought and sold, tax recording, controlled substance consumption and inventory, dispensing fees, and discounts. The system is also capable of generating reports for inventory consumption and quantities of products on hand, and can create
• Provides a basic level of interoperability among electronic health records (EHRs) maintained by individual physicians and organizations
Epic is system wide throughout the hospital and its ancillary centers that is an electronic medical record system. It was implemented into the hospital to streamline and organize the records of patients so that no matter where they are in the hospital, their record is instantly accessible to healthcare providers and all departments at any time. Epic has received the Best in KLAS award in 2014 and also is the #1 software suite five years running. KLAS is dedicated to providing “the single best source of honest, unbiased information about the software and equipment that keeps healthcare moving forward.” KLAS has stated that epic is a leader in the market for adding clients because their system is low risk and
This technology assist the nurse in confirming patients identify by confirming the patients’ dose, time and form of medication (Helmons, Wargel, & Daniels, 2009). Having an EHR also comes with a program that allows the medical staff to scan medications so medication errors can be prevented. According to Helmons, Wargel, and Daniels (2009) they conducted an observational study in two medical –surgical units one in the medical intensive care (ICU) and one in the surgical ICU. The researchers watched 386 nurses within the two hospitals use bar code scanning before they administrated patients’ medications. The results of the research found a 58 % decrease in medication errors between the two hospitals because of the EHR containing a bar code assisted medication administration
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.
Portability can improve patient care. Patients no longer have to “tote” their cumbersome medical records around anymore. EHR’s give physicians and clinicians access to critical healthcare information in the palm of their hand, which ultimately leads to improved patient care outcomes. EHR’s also provide security to vital medical and personal healthcare information. Organizations like HIPPA defines policies, procedures and guidelines for preserving the privacy and security of discrete distinguishable health information (HHS.gov,
Health care information system (HCIS) is an arrangement of information (data), processes, people, and information technology that interact to collect, process, store, and provide as output the information needed to support the health care organization (Wager, Lee, Glaser, 2013, p. 105). Having ready access to timely, complete, accurate, legible, and relevant information is critical to health care organizations, providers, and the patients they serve (Wagerm Lee, & Glaser, 2013). In the health care industry, the quality of care is one of the most important objectives for most health care organizations. The growing developments in health information technology have a great impact on the delivery of health care and have changed the systems used to record and share information. It has the potential to improve the quality of care if it is appropriately used. Health care organizations routinely apply computers and other technologies to record and transfer health information such as diagnoses, prescriptions, and insurance information.
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.
One of the demands in healthcare today is to have the ability to allow healthcare organizations to exchange patient health related information with other healthcare organizations. This was made possible by the creation of the electronic health record (EHR), electronic medical record (EMR) and personal health record (PHR). The EHR, PHR and the EMR allowed for patient’s paper medical charts into transformed into electronic charts. This allowed for a better way to organize the information that was contained the paper medical chart. The health organization began to realize they could use these electronic charts for a better way to care and share patient health related information. However, as the transmission of data continued, the need for standards developed to insure the interoperability of these healthcare systems. Two of the standards that were created in order to help with the electronic transmission of medical data are the Continuity of Care Record (CCR) and the Continuity of Care Document (CCD).
“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.
Encompassed within the boundaries of this research paper, I will outline the rationale of constructing and implementing a publicly accessible patient portal for a healthcare organization. I will examine the utility, purpose and the technology requirements. Furthermore I will identify key employee involvement and the project tasks to make it operational and conclude with the highly probable benefits that the organization can expect to profit from its use. Despite all of the challenges presented in this paper, the benefits of this project has the potential to provide the organization a substantial return on investment (ROI) as highlighted by Heath Bell when he articulated, “portals are expected to be a key conduit for engaging patients in their care and getting them important health care information as quickly as possible” (Bell. 2012)
When walking into a hospital, nursing home, or physician’s office, electronic devices are used everywhere. The doctors have pagers, drugs are released from an apparatus similar to vending machines, and the patients are connected to intravenous pumps and monitors, while they lay on beds that move with the touch of a button. Everything seems to be electronic, except for patient charts. A new system, called eHealth, was devised that would make these patient charts electronic. 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. Adopting this system will cost more the some facilities are able to spend. However, investing in eHealth is a risk hospitals should take to improve patient care. eHealth has to become affordable to all providers for healthcare to reach its full potential.
Telemedicine can also include the use of e-mail, smart phones, wireless tools, and other forms of telecommunications technologies (Wager, Lee, & Glaser, 2013, p. 156.)
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.
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