Obtaining Health Information Analysis

Patients are taking an aggressive role in their healthcare needs. Patients desire to in touch with their medical records. Medical professionals are utilizing the Electronic Health Records to implement current data into information necessary to provide quality care for the patient. Thereby, managing patients’ current, and past histories. To understand what is occurring today, one must recognize why patients are taking an active approach to their healthcare.

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

Joyce Meyer once said, “Discipline is your friend, not your enemy.” Throughout history, parents have used this ideology to ensure children obey and respect authority. Ray Bradbury used his story, “The Veldt”, to make the point that discipline is essential for proper growth in adolescence. He believes that if parents do not discipline their children, it will lead to their demise. In the story, when the parents, Lydia and George, do not discipline their children, Wendy and Peter, the children lost respect for their parents.

With the elimination of paper charts, patients information becomes available with a touch of a button. This information includes insurance verification, current medications, lab reports, and past visit summaries.

Electronic Health Records (EHR), is a similar system but does more than an EMR in the sense of collecting clinical data, but is designed to reach out to other healthcare providers that originally collected and compiled the patient’s health information. EHRS can share information with other providers such as laboratories, specialists, and other physicians which help to prevent medical errors and better serve the patient since all clinicians involved information is available through the EHR. (Lighter, Donald E (2011). According to The National Alliance for Health Information Technology, EHR data “can be created, managed, and consulted by authorized clinicians and

Electronic health records were a technological advancement in the healthcare industry in which paper patient record’s became digital. The transition from paper to digital charting allowed easier, quicker access to patient information for those who were authorized to do so. EHRs are secure and protected with username and password access only. It contains information such as patient medical history, procedures, diagnoses, medications, labs, tests, and treatments. Healthcare professionals and organizations who are authorized to access a patient’s electronic health record can do so at ease via a secure network or online database (HealthIT, 2013).

As useful as the EMR is to patient care there exist a few drawbacks when records are transformed from paper into the digital form. Even though patient health records can only be accessed from inside the hospital’s computers, the EMR can be accessed from anywhere inside the hospital or from another hospital or clinic within the same organization. Before the implementation of the EMR, healthcare staff had to go directly to the patient 's physical chart and thumb through pages of information. Now, with the EMR, any hospital employee can access any patient 's information anywhere inside the hospital. EMRs are more easily accessible, even to personnel not involved in the

Advancements in technology have made it possible for people to access medical information, communicate with their doctor, manage and track diseases, seek help, and maintain anonymity. Technology has facilitated the tracking of medical information, for example, Kaiser Permanente uses a computerized system to store and track patient information. Any doctor in a

Introduction: Technology is a constantly changing and evolving field. Those changes can be used to make the lives of people easier in every single way. With the creation of computers and the internet we have been applying technological changes in the health care world for years now. Patients can access their records with a few swipes at their keyboard and share records with other providers. In addition, providers can share reports with each other just as easily.

Electronic retrieval of patient demographics, allergies, current medications, complete medical history, diagnostic and radiologic results, etc. occurs by clicking a few buttons. Electronic patient charts provide quick and easy access to physicians, hospitals, independent labs, and pharmacies. EHRs allow simultaneous access by independent providers and allow a collaborative effort for health care management of the patient. “EHRs are the next step in the continued progress of healthcare that can strengthen the relationship between patients and clinicians”. (Electronic Health Records Overview, 2011)

The preferred format for clinical health information is Health Level Seven (HL7) Clinical Document Architecture (CDA) for both Personal Health Record (PHR) and Electronic Medical Record (EMR). It is XML-based format identifies the encoding, configuration, and semantics of a clinical file. Blue Button+ Direct implementation ensure ease of transmission of medical records to a third party by the health care provider or patient. Direct uses SMTP, S/MIME, and X.509 licenses to maintain security, data reliability, privacy and verification of sender and receiver. Additionally, it meets the requirements for Meaningful Use (MU) Stage 2 of View, Download, and Transmit (VDT) that is required for certified EMR/EHR (Graham-Jones & Panchadsaram, 2013).

“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 health records (EHRs): Medical records are now kept in an electronic versus a paper chart. All health information regarding past and current medical history, treatment plans, and medications are kept in the EHR. The system also allows sharing of medical information from provider to provider as needed. Many HER systems have a feature to allow patients to log into a patient portal to review lab results, diagnostic tests, plans of care, and email access to the provider

For many people in the health care field health records are an everyday part of life. Health records have many different purposes. For instance, some of the primary purposes of health records are patient care delivery, management, support, patient self-management and financial and administrative processes (Sayles, 2013). Patient care delivery is one of the most important aspects of health records. Health care professionals document the what, when, who, why, and how of patient care into health records. This information is used to determine how a patient is doing and what needs to be done to ensure the patient is taken care of. Most non-verbal healthcare professional communication is done in the health record. Health records are a place to collect

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