Health It Success Statement

In today’s society, the accuracy of health information, the availability of health records, and the professional resources in which one live are vital in decision making for health conditions. Meaningful Use (MU) is a program developed by CMS Medicare and Medicaid that awards, incentives in the health care industry in which the certified electronic health records (EHRs) are used to improve patient care (Practice Fusion, 2016). These incentives are for professionals that care for about 30% of their adult patient volume or 20% of their children’s volume for Medicare and Medicaid patients (CMS, 2016). In addition, adjusting from paper charts to electronic charts of patient’s information is beneficial for MU. Furthermore, the American

After decades of paper based medical records, a new type of record keeping has surfaced - the Electronic Health Record (EHR). EHR is an electronic or digital format concept of an individual’s past and present medical history. It is the principle storage place for data and information about the health care services provided to an individual patient. It is maintained by a provider over time and capable of being shared across different healthcare settings by network-connected information systems. Such records may include key administrative and clinical data relevant to that persons care under a particular provider. Examples of such records may include: demographics, physician notes, problems or injuries, medications and allergies, vital

Along with the new technologies applying in healthcare, the documentation processes and storages also change from paper charts to computer-based electronic health records (EHR). Many healthcare organizations currently maintain patients’ health records in both formats of paper and electronic. The combination is known as hybrid health record system, which is used to assist in different methods that patients’ information is collected. Hybrid health records (HHR) contain specific patients’ health information. HHRs are stored manually and electronically in multiple places. Current patients’ health records usually contain both digital documents and handwritten notes. Patients’ data are electronically stored, such as laboratory, radiology tests,

On the other hand, some health care professionals are reluctant to adopt PHR due to concerns that additional work associated with the use of PHRs might not be reimbursed. Another factor is the interoperability between PHRs and existing EMRs or EHRs. The low adoption rate of PHRs among physicians could be due to the fact that the current PHR systems could not effectively support their needs and therefore could not be seamlessly integrated into their work

Another beneficial feature of EHR systems is that they allow different authorized professionals to access your information from anywhere at any point in time. If a patient checks into the Emergency Room, is moved to Radiology for imaging, then moved to Orthopedics for surgery and finally placed in a bed for recovery, each individual throughout that process will have access to that patient’s medical records without having to communicate with each department. This fosters an

Information system (IS) is an arrangement of information (data), processes, people, and information technology that interact to collect, process, store, and present information that support the organizations. Information systems are complex system and therefore it is essential to approach their acquisition, implementation, and management with proven methodologies (Burns, Bradley, & Weiner, 2011, p. 389). System acquisition refers to the process that occurs from the time the decision is made to select a new system (or replace an existing system) until the time a contract has been negotiated and signed (Wager, Lee, & Glaser, 2013, p. 210). The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) plays an important role in the acquisition and

Electronic health records are generated by healthcare providers and include patient’s medical and health information, which may include demographic data, progress notes, medications, vital signs, medical history, immunizations and laboratory data. EHRs are not accessible by patients, but usually certain data is made available through a patient portal. On the other hand, a personal health record is owned and controlled by a patient, and has information that is not on a medical record. A patient portal allows patients to access their PHR and usually information from an EHR (Emont, 2011).

Healthcare organizations (HCOs) are implementing patient portals and beginning to allow the patient access to pieces of their record online through web portals. This is a step toward actually implementing an electronic health record (EHR). According to Garets and Davis (2006), an EHR is actually a subset of an electronic medical record (EMR) and is actually an interactive piece that allows the patient to add and correct data in their personal EHR over time. Data is shared with the regional health information organization (RHIO) or the national health information network (NHIN) via summary documents like the continuity of care record (CCR) or continuity of care document (CCD). In order for the patient to have the ability to share this data

According to the Healthcare Information Management and Systems Society (HIMSS), “Personal health records (PHRs) are consumer-centric tools that individuals can use to communicate with their health care providers to manage their own health and health care” (as cited in Kim & Nahm, 2012). Moreover, it is the patient who controls, updates, reviews data and information that is entered into the PHRs, except when an integrated PHR-EHR system is involved. There are barriers to employing a PHR such as data accuracy and data privacy and security.

Electronic health records (EHR) are databases that record health related information on an individual that is within nationally recognized standards, that can be created managed and consulted by authorized staff, and clinicians across more than one health care organization (Wagner, Lee &Glaser, 2013). Two EHR databases include Cloud EHR by OmniMD and Nextgen EHR by Nextgen. These two databases have similar and different qualities. Some similar qualities that both databases have are patient care, communication, legal documentation, billing and reimbursement, research and quality management, population health, identification form, problem list,

EHR, known as electronic health record, refers to some systematic collection of an individual’s or a population’s electronic health information. The record is in a digital format which is theoretically sharable across various health care settings. Sometimes, this sharing can happen by way of network-connected, information systems or some other information networks. The electronic health record may include a wide range of data, like demographics, the patient’s medical history, their medication and allergies their immunization status, lab test results, vital signs, statistics like weight and age, and billing information.

Personal health information storage is important in current times because it allows healthcare professionals to view a patient’s records to ensure quality care and treatment. This also makes healthcare more manageable for patients with chronic illnesses. A physician can view the information and determine a treatment plan for a new or existing

Health IT will provide the necessary tools to achieve this vision through an interoperable infrastructure and supportive building blocks such as: Rapid translation of research, evidence, or best practices into electronically actionable guidelines that enable decision support, quality measurement and reporting; Capturing data once and reusing the data many times; Standardization of CDEs for the capturing or generation of health and clinical information, will enabling the improved use of data within the normal flow of care—which allows for information relevant to eCQMs, CDS and federal reporting to occur more seamlessly, reducing data reentry; Timely, relevant, precise, valid and interoperable decision support for providers, patients, and consumers. (“Health IT Enables Quality Improvement,” 2013).

Although personal health records are done online, they are not the same as electronic health records. Personal health records are controlled by an individual or patient therefore the patient can control who has access to the record. Personal health records online are becoming more available so it will require those using them to be diligent in making sure their information is secure. Establishing a personal health record can be beneficial in that it allows the patient to better manage and become more engaged in their personal healthcare. PHR’s also allow for: co-ordination of information from multiple providers, easy access when traveling or during an emergency,

Privacy and security are real issues...any kind of electronic transmissions can create vulnerabilities in any and all systems so, obviously patients may have a fear of their private information being compromised; which, can lead to a lack of public trust. Because of the dangers that are involved with the potential threat of the loss personal information, safeguards need to be put into place. So anyone who utilizes the EHR for their practice can set up safeguards to guard the information like...Front-end and Back-end verifications to protect the patient information from getting into the wrong hands. Also patient identification processes and procedures need to be put into place to maintain the security and privacy of each patient and have restrictions that require only those who need access to be able to gain it. Finally...software firewalls need to be put into place to protect from incidence of hacking personal information. If this type of information were to get into the wrong hands it could be detrimental to everyone involved, leading to a possibility of identity theft, destruction of people's reputations, loss and