An Electronic Health Record System

In 2009, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) were passed by the Obama legislation to try and improve healthcare for Americans by reducing costs and improving quality. The ARRA is commonly known as the ‘stimulus package’. The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) act was part of the ARRA to help improve our country’s infrastructure. HITECH supports electronic health records– meaningful use (EHR-MU) which is led by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC). HITECH allocated over $27 billion in funds to help encourage the healthcare industry in

The ARRA includes the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, which pursues to improve American Healthcare and patient care through an extraordinary investment in Healthcare IT (HIT). The requirements of the HITECH Act are precisely designed to work jointly to provide the necessary assistance and technical operation to providers, enable grammatical relation and organization within and among states, establish connectivity in case of emergencies, and see to it the workforce is properly trained and equipped to be meaningful users of certified Electronic Health Records (EHRs). These computer software products are designed collaboratively to intensify the footing for every American to profit from an electronic health record (EHR) as part of a modernized, interrelated, and vastly improved grouping of care delivery.

The Role of Electronic Health Records and Health Information Exchange in the Delivery of Quality Healthcare

The healthcare industry is in the midst of a major change from paper based medical record keeping to electronic medical record keeping. As part of the American Recovery and Investment Act of 2009, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act was passed (Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, 2014). HITECH is the U.S. Government’s first major contribution to the change from paper to electronic health information technology by setting meaningful use incentive program for Medicare and Medicaid providers that met certain requirements. Healthcare professionals that meet the meaningful use criteria will be awarded financially, and those that don’t meet the 2015 guideline will be penalized. We live in an electronic world of instant access to information and by adopting health information technology we give providers better and easier access to more information which in turn allows them to make a more informed diagnosis and treatment plan for the patient. The electronic health record (EHR) is part of the new information technology. According to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (2014.), EHR’s provide many benefits such as improvement in the quality of patient care; improvement in the coordination of patient care; more accurate diagnosis and better outcomes; a higher level of patient participation in their own care; and cost savings for the practice

The HITECH act of 2009 brought about the revolution of health information technology (HIT) by providing billions of dollars to aid in implementation throughout the health care industry. HIT has allowed for improved patient-centered care secondary to improvement in communication channels, allowing for greater access of protected health information (PHI) for healthcare providers, which in turns, has improved the efficiency of patient care. Patient centered communication has been achieved through means of patient portals and electronic health records (EHR). EHR connects various disciplines and aids interdisciplinary communication. Furthermore, HIT such as telemedicine and clinical decision support systems allow for improve communication of health information between provider and patient, allowing for better patient care delivery (Finney et al., 2014).

Federal stimulus money spurred the purchase and installation of health information technology (HIT) within our American healthcare system (Dashboard.healthit.gov, 2017). This technology has secured its place in our society by providing many benefits to patients and healthcare practitioners. However, health information technology (HIT) also has the potential to negatively impact patient care. This paper will talk about how EHR affects patient care and what can we do as future practitioners to help.

Legislation such as the Health Information Technology for Economics and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act promoted meaningful use of electronic health records (EHR) to provide better patient outcomes (CDC, n.d.). Meaningful use is regulated by CMS and National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) and is based on five goals including: improving quality, safety, efficiency and reducing health disparities, engage patients and families in their health, improve care coordination, improve population and public health,

“An Electronic Health Record (EHR) is an electronic version of a patient’s medical history, that is maintained by the provider over time, and may include all of the key administrative clinical data relevant to that persons care under a particular provider, including demographics, progress notes, problems, medications, vital signs, past medical history, immunizations, laboratory data and radiology reports” (CMS, 2011). Paper charting can no longer support the needs of our healthcare industry, and EHR is replacing it throughout healthcare settings in a rapid way. Also, once the patient is discharged from the healthcare setting, paper charts are stored in medical records and a new chard would open if the patient comes back later, allowing key information to be missed and put the patient safety in jeopardy.

The meaningful use law was written into legislation with the sole purpose of providing healthcare providers with funding for implementing healthcare information technology, electronic health records, protecting patient’s health information, and provides patients with greater access and control over their protected health information. Derived from the Health Insurance Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) that provides funding and incentives for the implementation of electronic health records. Title IV of division B of the ARRA is considered part of the HITECH Act. It addresses Medicare and Medicaid EHR and provides financial incentives to healthcare providers and hospitals that adopt and engage in the “meaningful use” of the electronic health record technology. If this legislation made known, and end-users have a better understanding of the legislation fears and obstacles in adopting this anticipated change can be overcome.

There is lack of economic information related to establishing, implementing and sustaining the discharge navigation program. It was very difficult to get the project financed. Initially it was difficult to obtain top leadership support for the financing of the program.

Health Information Technology (HIT) is associated with development, design, application, and maintenance of the information systems in the health care industry. HIT offers a variety of health care information tools and their purpose is to reduce human errors while improving the quality and efficiency in order to provide the best customer service possible. HIT professional’s focus their attention on the technical side of controlling the health information, and with the help by having information technology background, they utilize software and hardware and make sure the information is stored safely and securely for those who needs them.

There is a lack of economic information related to establishing, implementing and sustaining the discharge navigation program. It was very difficult to get the project financed. Initially it was difficult to obtain top leadership support for the financing of the program.

In today’s meeting we will discuss the justification of the capital expenditure. Any acquisition of capital needs to equate to a feasible and profitable return on investment for stakeholders. While this holds true in any industry, not just healthcare, the implementation of an electronic health record system must be critically analyzed, as the purchase is a huge undertaking. We can look closely at a cost-benefit analysis of an electronic medical record in an ambulatory primary care setting to get a better understanding of all the factors involved. The study was published in The American Journal of Medicine. The data was gathered from several internal medicine clinics. The primary goal was to measure net finical costs or benefits per provider during a comprehensive 5-year period.

Electronic Health Records (EHRs) systems will support the use of e-health, it is very beneficial and is the most complicated type of health information system. EHR benefits include availability, accessibility, and accuracy of data (Ayatollahi). EHR works by involving other information systems in the field of healthcare. Clearly, regularization of other health systems will speed up the process of integration and creation of EHRs. When developing an EHR, the process is not an easy job and contains many barriers that will make accomplishing goals even harder. Before, the EHR is adopted, technical problems must be recognized and solved. The main barriers to the progression and adoption of EHRs include low amounts of national information exchange, not enough human and technical issues, problems about the adjustment of the process, a shortage of integration between health information systems, a shortage of databases, and problems with keeping health information confidential (Ayatollahi). Hospital information systems were established by private information technology (IT) companies. Yet, these systems were not reliable and different vendors’ products could be found in the market; to lead the projects and avoid replication across the country, the Ministry of Health’s statistics and IT management center was selected to be accountable for designing and implementing EHRs (Ayatollahi).

(2014). First, HIT improves patient safety by moving beyond the paper record. Paper-based records are inadequate and unreliable because of the fact that patient ‘medical records may not be updated as quickly and they increase the risk of misinterpretation. Furthermore, only one physical copy of the patient record exists whereas HIT allows for multiple ways of accessing the same record. Another way HIT increases quality of healthcare is through the work of Health Informaticians. “The main task of these HIT professionals is to advance cost-effective care by using information technology. They also help design software, conduct analyses for decision-making, and build and maintain research systems for clinical research” Shortliffe & Edward Hance. (2006). The variety of Health Information Technology allows Health Informaticians to utilize their skills and knowledge in different settings such as a hospital setting, clinical setting or technology company. In a hospital setting, Health Informaticians can help facilitate communication between physicians, patient management and billing, care delivery, as well as managing and analyze data for better decision making. Health Informaticians will continue to play a vital role in healthcare delivery as we continue to move the healthcare industry from paper-based systems to electronic base systems.