1. (. The Ehr In A Private Family Practice. Noelle Hall.

Over the past few years, we have notice a significant change in the workflow of a healthcare organization. This change is caused by the technological advancements of Health Information Technology (HIT). One of the many technological advancements of HIT is the Electronic Health Record (EHR). Electronic health records are a patient’s paper chart in a digital format. It always contains real time information and can be easily accessible. With EHR put into act, it has the ability to electronically view and share a patient’s medical history, past and current medications, immunization dates, any diagnoses or allergies, as well as testing and lab reports. It is also used to document and store data, in addition with many more abilities. It is important to understand the purpose, application, challenges, and advantages of an electronic heath record. In order to get a greater understanding of its use, we will use a private family medicine practice as the foundation for implementing the EHR.

But with the benefits there are also the risk factors. Some disadvantages of the EHR system would include; initial cost of planning and implementing an EHR system, lack of standardization across the healthcare setting, unauthorized access to patient information (security and privacy), inaccurate patient information if not updated properly, technical downtimes, potential negligence for data loss and possible patient access to conditions that they don’t comprehend which may panic them.

The purpose of this discussion board is to describe the Electronic Health Record (EHR), the six steps of an EHR and how my facility implements them, describe “meaningful use” and how my facility status is in obtaining it, and to further discuss the EHR’s and patient confidentiality.

Hence, EHR 's are inherently complex amalgamations of diverse subsystems targeted toward varied users. The stakeholders are the users and must have a role in implementing any IT or EHR system into its work flow. An EHR can be customized to accommodate any environment depending on the level of expertise of the vendor and how long they have been in the business of creating an optimum system that 's customized to fit the organizations needs. For the most part, EHR 's must be designed for efficient, error free use. Ideally, an EHR is a system that encompass all the subsystems that make a hospital meet "meaningful use" criteria to acquire incentives for adopting EHR into practice. In the next five years, EHR adoption will no longer be a luxury, it will be a "MUST". EHR 's and other health information technology will be a necessity to practice medicine (econsultant.com, 2010). Rather than purchase several standalone systems, it would behoove one , in my opinion , to purchase an EHR that would satisfy all the needs of the stakeholders, the physician , nurses and other hospital staff and all parties involved in the tertiary practice too. Although LWMS 's budget is not large enough to accommodate the full cost of implementing an EHR,

However, there’s an enormous amount of money involved to acquire these advanced EHR systems. There are fears of losing the capital investment. According to Prasad (2013), “better medicine means stable business.” With EHRs capability to provide efficient healthcare services, it is helping in containing the healthcare cost. However, some CFOs have looked beyond the financial gains of the EHR implementation. “You have to look beyond that to the intangible benefits, the improvements in delivery care and position your organization to be competitive in the future” (“ROI: Look beyond,” n.d.). Indeed, EHR is a long-term investment for HCOs with a great promise for future

As the national health care system transitions to the electronic health record (EHR), it is important to recall the impetus to this reform. Prior to the implementation of the electronic health record, the national health care system encountered many problems that impeded quality patient care. There was not a standardized formal structure with the process. Consequently, it lacked communication across disciplines and among providers and

Electronic Health Records (EHRs) are an important component in health care reform, but do they really bring efficiency to the practice? The extent to which practices use EHRs vary from the very basic (entering clinical notes and viewing results) to the intermediate (using e-Prescribing to indicate adverse drug prevention and provide suggestions for alternative drugs) to the advanced use (including lab and radiology order entry with testing guidance, capture of electronic charge, and evidence-based guidelines).

Over the previous eight years, there has been a significant investment of private and public funds to upsurge the adoption of Electronic health records (EHRs) across the nation. The extensive adoption and “meaningful use” of electronic health records is a national priority. EHRs come in various forms and can be utilized in distinct organizations, as interoperating systems in allied health care units, on a regional level, or nationwide. The benefit of utilizing an EHR depends heavily on provider’s uptake on technology. Benefits related to electronic health records are numerous and may have clinical, organizational and societal outcomes. However, challenges in implementing electronic health records has attained some attention, the implementation

Besides identifying the objectives required to qualify for meaningful use, we must also consider the Ambulatory care practice’s key goals of streamlining registration, billing and improving the patient record documentation process. The project team should diagram and process map the current as well as the new proposed work flow to determine their specific needs and define objectives. When considering an EHR vendor, it is suggested that the Ambulatory care practice be able to demo the product with specific scenarios applicable to the

By evaluating, comparing and calculating the best fit of three different EHR vendors illustrated in Appendix B, Durity, LLC, will purchase the Epic electronic health record system to replace its ancient paper-based system. The essential categories that an EHR enhances are interoperability, safety/security, quality/reliability, efficiency, and communication. According to Pennic (2014), “Epic continues to dominate the EHR market for hospital and health systems with 37% of users…”. Furthermore, Pennic (2014) reported, “For many physicians, “ease of use” determines their overall perception and experience with the EHR, affecting patient interactions and time spent documenting”.

Although, the use of electronic health records (EHRs) not easy for healthcare organizations to implement or even can change due to their old way of doing things. For instance, Ajami at.el. 2011 & Castillo, 2010, both speaks of the importance of executives of clinics, vendors, physician, staff and IS leaders of Electronic Health Records (EHRs) in the marketing, selection, implementation and utilization has contributed to a myriad of problems due to miscommunication, misinformation, and misinterpretation between them. This transition may be a challenge, but may go smoother through communication between each of them. Because it may give each of them the opportunity to share information in writing or speaking, sharing

EHR and Practice Management Software’s are both ways to electronically keep track of patient information. These two are very similar, but they do have their differences. These systems both make handling patient medical records easy, and they both reduce the manual work my medical assistants and doctors. These programs help keep up-to-date patient histories, reduces the amount of paperwork, and speeds up the patient process.

A successful EHR system is built on a foundation of clear objectives. As every practice is different, it is also vital to consider existing systems and protocols when planning changes. The organizations and individuals that will be using the EHR need to be involved in implementing any new system.

Electronic Health Records have enhanced how information is stored and transmitted in the healthcare setting. They are a safe and much more secure way of maintaining records. In addition to security, it speeds up service times for patients and records can be transported through the click of a mouse. EHRs are now mandatory as a directive set by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and all healthcare organizations must conform or face a heavy penalty (EHR adoption, 2011). Despite the fact that many organizations do not like change, there are some positive outcomes that could occur if an organization switches from the “old” way of doing things to a new EHR system. By implementing an EHR system, an organization could see more money to the bottom line. Many organizations have been noticing that EHRs are allowing them to become more efficient and they have seen business grow in recent years. Dr. Larry Garber a physician and medical director for informatics at Worcester, Mass based Reliant Medical group said” The $24 million EHR investment was worth every penny, the medical group has seen return on investment, big revenue boosts and a huge increase in compliance and clinical results. (McCann, 2013). EHRs can be designed by the individual organization. They don’t have to come in a one size fit all category. Dr. Gerber spoke about his practice designing an EHR feature for radiologist that allowed them to correct the percentage of incorrectly ordered

Electronic health records (EHR’s) have many advantages, but there are plenty of disadvantages. EHR’s were created to manage the many aspects of healthcare information. Medical professionals use them daily and most would feel lost without it. Healthcare organizations were encouraged to adopt EHR’s in 2009 due to the fact that a bill passed known as The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH Act). “The HITECH Act outlines criteria to achieve “meaningful use” of certified electronic records. These criteria must be met in order for providers to receive financial incentives to promote adoption of EHRs as an integral part of their daily practice”, (Conrad, Hanson, Hasenau & Stocker-Schneider, 2012).