1860-1960: A Historical Analysis

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) states that in order to realize meaningful use of the EHR technology, healthcare providers are obliged to apply the technology in a approach that enriches quality, safety, and efficiency of healthcare delivery; ebbs healthcare inconsistencies; involves patients and families; enriches care coordination; expands population and public health; and guarantees sufficient privacy and security guards for personal health information. (U.S Department of Health and

Electronic health records (EHR) are health records that are generated by health care professionals when a patient is seen at a medical facility such as a hospital, mental health clinic, or pharmacy. The EHR contains the same information as paper based medical records like demographics, medical complaints and prescriptions. There are so many more benefits to the EHR than paper based medical records. Accuracy of diagnosis, quality and convenience of patient care, and patient participation are a few examples of the

Prior to the federal mandate of EHR, research continued to show the fallacies of the healthcare system like the report published from the Institute of medicine, stating that “medical errors are the 8th leading cause of deaths in the U.S. and cost approximately forty billion dollars a year” (Overview, 2012). This was one of many indicators that healthcare needed to be reformed and in 2009, the president signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act or HITECH Act, which mandated that all healthcare providers must comply and begin to transition to electronic medical records (EMR) and demonstrate “meaningful use.” This act set up a timeline, which established that practices and hospitals needed to be up and running with EMR in order to continue receiving reimbursements from federal programs like Medicaid and Medicare.

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

In efforts to reform the United States healthcare system and create a nationally unified data exchange system the federal government has established an incentive program to eligible professionals and hospitals. The federal government has turned to certified electronic health record (EHR) technology to help facilitate the process of broadening health IT infrastructures. The federal government views EHR system used in meaningful ways as the key to reforming the healthcare systems. Meaningful use of the EHR systems can also improve the overall quality of healthcare, insure patient safety, as well as reduce the cost of healthcare to individuals (Bigalke & Morris, 2010, p. 116).

The use of technology can be seen everywhere in the world today. One area which has seen a big push to add technology is the healthcare industry. Healthcare has now progressed to the age of electronic health records (EHR). The purpose of this paper is to discuss the evolution of the EHR, including the EHR mandate and the role of the Affordable Care Act in this mandate. It will discuss the EHR plan at Hackettstown Medical Center (HMC) to include the progress HMC has made with the mandate. This paper will discuss meaningful use and HMCs status with meaningful use. Lastly, the paper will define the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and what HMC is doing to prevent HIPAA violations.

EHRs have potential in recuperating patient safety. EHRs are efficient as they do not require doctors to use paper records, which in turn result in healthier individuals (Staggers, Weir and Phansalkar, 2008). Furthermore, Canada and many other countries around the globe have invested in EHRs due to the advantages for patient safety. Moreover, EHRs have its advantages, but there are also evident disadvantages, such as financial costs, patient safety, and medical errors (Sparnon and Marella,

Although the general population has concerns about who has the ability to access their medical records, data has been put into place showed that the general population knows that having an EHR would be beneficial (Thede, 2010). Research has suggested that patients, providers and insurance companies have benefited from EHRs because insurance companies do not have to pay for duplicate testing as well as patients and providers having the ability to increase the quality of care that is provider (Thede, 2010). Not to mention, the patients aren’t pained to have to remember every detail of the history when visiting various specialist (Thede, 2010). Moreover, EHR can increase medical staff efficiency and reduce errors, and keeping adverse drug events from happening (Bill to promote electronic health records proposed, 2008).

The rapid development of technology is directly impacting the design and direction of the EHR. As medical devices are smaller and more user friendly, patients are being involved in reporting and this will be incorporated into the EHR. In addition to technological changes, EHRs have evolved in relation to consumer needs. Originally the EHRs were focused

After the first session of the American College of Medical Informatics 2004 retreat, during which the history of electronic health records was reviewed, the second session served as a forum for discussion about the state of the art of EHR adoption. Adoption and diffusion rates for both inpatient and outpatient EHRs are low for a myriad of reasons ranging from personal physician concerns about workflow to broad environmental issues. Initial recommendations for addressing these issues include providing communication and education to both providers and

The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2009 was signed into law with an explicit purpose of incentivizing providers (e.g., physicians and hospitals) to adopt EHR systems. The HITECH Act of 2009 is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (“stimulus package”). However, given that a bare EHR system provides only partial benefits to patients and society, the HITECH Act requires that providers adopt EHRs and utilize them in a “meaningful” way, which includes using certain EHR functionalities associated with error reduction and cost containment. How do EHRs improve care? What evidence proves that certain EHR “meaningful use” functionalities will translate into benefits? The purpose of this paper is to answer these questions. Impacts include both benefits and drawbacks, and, as such, I will discuss the advantages that have been identified by researchers. Overall, any reader interested in understanding the current state of the knowledge base with regard to EHR benefits will find this paper

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

Soldiers in the trenches face some of the most unhygienic environments known to man! The extent of the health problems is never fully understood. This is primarily because they were censored and only the war survivors lived to tell the stories about the problems. Some of the most obvious problems were the cold, mud and the harsh side effects of rough sleeping. In winter, warm cups of team would freeze in a couple of minutes& even if you took your boots off! The mud from the poorly made British trenches coated clothing in just a few hours and was rarely changed, leaving the body to bath in bacterial growth and sweat! In severe cases, one solider spend 42 days of 1915 without removing his socks and boots. Some soldiers did sometimes do this intentionally to get out of the front line fighting and even faced trench foot and risk of amputation to escape the harsh environment.

The United States health care system uses electronic health records (EHRs) to replace paper charts. They contain valuable patient medical information. EHRs improve the quality of care without expensive, time-consuming processes. Although there are many reasons to use electronic health records, there are also many disadvantages. More importantly, there is a real need for electronic health records (EHRs) in this day-in-age.

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).