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.
Electronic Patient Data affects on Healthcare delivery
In 2009 President Obama, through the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, pledged to provide incentives to the nation’s physicians and hospitals to convert to an electronic healthcare system in attempt to improve the quality of care and reduce cost (Freudenheim, 2010). By converting to an electronic system, we have the opportunity for improved communication between all healthcare providers and decreased cost to our healthcare system. The goal is to improve communication across all aspects of the service chain (Horan, Botts & Burkhard, 2010). Almost two years later, the conversion progress continues to be slow. Only one in four physician’s offices, mostly large groups, have implemented the electronic record system (Freudenheim, 2010).
Positive and Negatives
The use of electronic medical records has both positive and negative impacts on our struggling healthcare system. The positive effects are improved communication among healthcare providers, decrease cost to patient and insurance companies by eliminating repeat diagnostic tests and unnecessary procedures, and improve the health conditions throughout the country by collecting data information. Immunization registries, bio surveillance, and public health can be monitored to improve the “fiscal an...
... middle of paper ...
... efforts as well.
Works Cited
Freudenheim, M. (2010, December 13). Panel set to study safety of electronic patient data. The New York Times. Retrieved from Http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/14/business/14records.html?_r=1&sq=healthcare informatics patient records&st=nyt&adxnnl=1&scp=1&adxnnlx=1299414338-50ipQCu8c0TGV6j+8bTQUA
Horan, T., Botts, N., & Burkhard, R. (2010, August 4). A multidimensional view of personal health systems for underserved populations. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 1438-8871. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/ehost/detail?hid=15&sid=4b469aed-3a4c-4e9e-bb4a-1ddf188da74e%40sessionmgr13&vid=2&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=mnh&AN=20685644
Laureate Education, I. (Producer). (2010). Intro to healthcare delivery part I [DVD]. In The nurse leader: New perspectives on the profession.Baltimore, MD
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.
Healthcare is a prevailing topic of today’s conversation. People want and need better access to care. Electronic Health Reports provide access to better care because their implementation and use is considered to be of greatest importance for reducing medical errors and improving the quality of service that patients receive (Song et al. 2011). The traditional paper-based record keeping system will be a thing of the past as the US healthcare delivery system makes a shift to electronic record keeping. This transition will take place as an advantage that links local and national healthcare strategies and places a priority on efficient operational practices. Even though a benefit of reduction in varying costs due to efficiency has been speculated by prior research, the huge financial investment has deterred many organizations from moving forward with EHR adoption. Physicians and organizations have a hard time building a business case for ambulatory EHR systems for several direct and indirect reasons dealing with revenue and benefits. In the article, Exploring the Business Case for Ambulatory Electronic Health Record System Adoption, the authors’ aim was to understand the decision for investment in EHR systems by healthcare organizations.
The implementation of electronic health records (EHR) continues to make an impact on nursing and patient care throughout the country. As a part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, all public and private healthcare providers were required to implement electronic health records in their facilities by January 1, 2014. By demonstrating “meaningful use” of the electronic medical record, facilities are able to maintain Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement levels. Providers who show that they are meeting the “meaningful use” criteria during EHR use will receive an incentive payment from Medicare and Medicaid. “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).
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.
“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 statement has not only ran true for just the State of Nevada, but for cities throughout the United States and overseas, but what can technology do to provide a more efficient way to not just for overall better healthcare, and also protect the medical records of millions of trusting patients? With the implementation of Electronic Medical Records (EMRs), there is less room for errors and more opportunities to gain the trust of the patients through medical experience, but how does the electronic medical records affect health care delivery? One way that healthcare delivery is affect is the quality of care. A patient is more like to see a doctor who is already acquainted with their medical history even if this is the patient’s first time visiting with a doctor that is filling in for their re...
A recent Jackson Healthcare report on physician trends found that 85% of providers have adopted electronic health records (EHR) systems. Also worth noting is that 61% of physicians reported their EHR’s overhead costs have increased due to ACA requirements. At the same time, provider satisfaction with their EHR systems has been declining. With the average physician seeing 22 patients per day, an EHR can make or break a practice's efficiency.
The purpose of this article is to review, summarize, and outline the key aspects to the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2009. The outcomes discussed in this article are based on clinical, organizational, and societal outcomes based on EHR’s. Included in these outcomes is improvement in the quality of care, increase in financial and operational performance, patient and clinician satisfaction and conduction of research. The author also implicates disadvantages to EHR’s such as financial issues, changes in workflow, loss in productivity due to the learning curve caused by EHR’s and this is just to name a few. This article will use the benefits and drawbacks to further expand on the topic of electronic medical and health
...will benefit the patient as well as the treating organization of care. The patients benefit with the confidence, comfort and security of competent, continuous care. The treating organization will benefit by not having to worry about missing information to the puzzle of person and their healthcare. Therefore the choice of electronic medical records versus paper medical records becomes evident: electronic medical records make health care more efficient and less expensive while improving the quality of care by making patients’ medical history easily accessible to all who treat them. Electronic medical records ensures patients that they are receiving competent care while establishing and maintaining optimal health and best possible quality of life, living with a medical condition, illness and/or diagnosis, with everyone involved informed of any and all changes in care.
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.
Our goal for the research paper was to think of a topic we found interesting. We had some broad topics and everyone voted on which topic they preferred and ultimately we decided to research about Electronic Health Records. After that, we needed to make it more specific so we narrowed it down to the implementation processes and barriers that arise when implementing electronic health records. We started doing some research and looking for peer reviewed articles and journals, yet we found there was still too much information to choose from so we narrowed it down further to focus merely on electronic health record implementation in hospital settings; therefore, which we could throw out any information on clinics, urgent care facilities and other small practices.
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).
The purpose of the Electronic Health Record is to provide a comprehensive, standardized and universal digital version of a patient 's health records. The availability of a patient 's digital health record provides health information and data for critical thinking and evidence based decision-making, aggregates patient data for quality assurance and research. The Electronic Health Record has been, "identified as a strategy for effectively and efficiently coordinating and maintaining documentation of patients health histories and as a secure method of providing more informed clinical decision making" (MNA, 2006).