Implanting an Electronic Health Record Chip into Every US Citizen: Pros and Cons

Possible benefits included positive patient outcomes as a result of improved quality of care, decreased medical errors, increase in financial revenue for organizations, better ability to conduct research, reduced cost of healthcare for patients, and an overall improvement in health for the general population (Menachemi & Collum, 2011). Disadvantages that were found in the review of literature included the initial cost to implement the electronic health record, continuing maintenance costs, and interruption in workflows that adds to the brief loss in productivity that occurs from healthcare providers having to learn a new system (Menachemi & Collum, 2011). There are also concerns about maintaining confidentiality (Menachemi & Collum,

Although the EHR is still in a transitional state, this major shift that electronic medical records are taking is bringing many concerns to the table. Two concerns at the top of the list are privacy and standardization issues. In 1996, U.S. Congress enacted a non-for-profit organization called Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). This law establishes national standards for privacy and security of health information. HIPAA deals with information standards, data integrity, confidentiality, accessing and handling your medical information. They also were designed to guarantee transferred information be protected from one facility to the next (Meridan, 2007). But even with the HIPAA privacy rules, they too have their shortcomings. HIPAA can’t fully safeguard the limitations of who’s accessible to your information. A short stay at your local

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the electronic health record mandate. Who started it and when? I will discuss the goals of the mandate. I will discussion will how the Affordable Care Act ties into the mandate of Electronic Health Record. It will describe my own facility’s EHR and what steps are been taken to implement it. I will describe the term “meaningful use,” and it will discuss possible threats to patient confidentiality and the what’s being done by my facility to prevent Health Information and Portability Accountability Act or HIPAA violations.

Several years ago, a mandate was ordered requiring all healthcare facilities to progress from paper charting and record keeping to electronic health record (EHR). This transition to electronic formatting has pros and cons associated with it. I will be describing the EHR mandate, including who initiated it, when it was initiated, the goals of the EHR, and how the Affordable Care Act and the Obama administration are tied into it. Then I will show evidence of research and discuss the six steps of this process as well as my facilities progress with EHR. Then I will describe meaningful use and how my facility attained it. Finally, I will define HIPAA law, the possible threats to patient confidentiality relating to EHR, and how what my facility

In 2009, the Health Technology for Electronic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) of 1996 was expanded. This expansion included mandated guidelines for health care systems in the Unites States to continue implementing of Electronic Health Records (EHR) in health care settings by 2016 and added a provision to improve protection of patient health information through privacy and security Turk (2015) . The implementation of this program has created a debate in the medical community. In addition, many healthcare organizations and institutions have conducted research studies and surveys to evaluate the effects of the EHR on documentation of care and other aspects of the EHR. Challenges surrounding the HER include, the cost of implementing EHR’s, time spent performing documentation, and patient outcomes and safety and security concerns. Let’s further delve into a few of these challenges.

EHRs adoption is an essential part of improving patient safety and the quality of health care by reducing errors, allowing access to complete and accurate medical information to produce better patient outcomes. Although, it seems like a win/win situation there are still some challenges that appear when implementing an EHR. Some challenges would be Time, Cost, Work- Flow Distribution, Security/Privacy, and Interoperability just to name few. Interoperability is defined as the ability of a computer system or software to exchange or make use of information, which can create a major issue for any organization if these systems are not communicating properly. Security and Privacy are always a concern because implementing HIPAA measures is not an easy task. Not only do you have to comply with the federal level organization still need to recognize state laws which can often be more stringent. Especially, when you need to cover areas such as mental health, drug and alcohol services, genetic testing, HIV, and family planning issues. Change management would be enacted to overcome any issues involving process change resistance. It is a methodical approach and application of knowledge that use tools and resources to deal with this type of change. Methodologies would

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 article focuses on the privacy laws associated with electronic health records (EHRs) and need to increase efficiency and cost reduction in healthcare. It explains that the federal government should regulate a national network of EHRs to minimize waste associated with the current EHR framework of fragmented networks to maximize the cost saving effect of EHR, thereby greatly reducing costs in healthcare nationwide. The article discusses how healthcare providers should

A wave of medical errors and patient deaths caused by healthcare providers renewed the search for a viable EHR system in 2000. Electronic health records would allow "providers to make better decisions and provide better

Having one central point is imperative to the growth, and improvement in the health care industry. It also has the potential to improve health care expenditures which I know all the citizens of America are in favor for. There a lot of citizens in the U.S. that believe that it is the government’s responsibility to protect their online health information and establish and monitor compliance (Nazi, 2010). With the growing number of health care organizations struggling to stay afloat and people trying to steal other individual’s identity, it is imperative for the government to step in to propose a universal web-based EHR system. It would relieve the finical burden of the health care organizations and promote growth in the health care industry.

With the world around America growing and expanding in their technology, President Obama saw it necessary to implement a new way to record a patient's medical history. The new plan that President Obama planned was called the Electronic Health Record or for short EHR. Technology is the new area that is evolving around our society currently. Everything is connected through technology now, you can have a picture or an email on a phone and when you get a new phone or electrical device the picture or email will be there. Since EHR is electrically it has many benefits. EHR allows to cut down time to gather all the patient's information, with EHR you just have to look up the patient's

This chapter presents the conclusion and suggestion related to the findings and analysis. Those include the answer of the research problem presented in the first chapter.

“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

Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) are now exercising a more significant impact on healthcare practices than ever before. The United States healthcare system stands on the brink of a new age of electronic health information technology. The potential for innovation within this new technology represents a great opportunity for the future of medicine. However, in seeking to implement EMRs caution must be exercised to ensure that implementation does not have adverse effects on the personal nature of the patient-physician relationship an important issue that must be addressed in order preserve the integrity of healthcare in the new electronic 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).