Patient Experience Paper

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 2004 president George Busch announced the goal to mandate electronic health records for every American by 2014. This would require every paper chart to be converted to electronic chart so that health care providers and the patient themselves can access their information through the internet (Simborg, 2011). The purpose of developing the EHR is to provide appropriate patient information from any location. Also to improve health care quality and the coordination of care among hospital staff. To reduce medical error, cost and advance medical care. Last to ensure patient health information is secure (DeSalvo, 2014) The Department of Health and Human Services appointed the Office of the National Coordinator for Health

There’s no denying that EHR has advanced the quality of healthcare by improving the way information is accessed and exchanged. But despite these advancements, errors, which were simply not tolerated in paper records, are numerous in EHRs. Because of this, electronic documentation tools have been developed in an effort to increase the quality of clinical documentation, enhance communication between healthcare providers, and improve delivery of care.

By evaluating, comparing and calculating the best fit of three different EHR vendors illustrated in Appendix B, Durity, LLC, will purchase the Epic electronic health record system to replace its ancient paper-based system. The essential categories that an EHR enhances are interoperability, safety/security, quality/reliability, efficiency, and communication. According to Pennic (2014), “Epic continues to dominate the EHR market for hospital and health systems with 37% of users…”. Furthermore, Pennic (2014) reported, “For many physicians, “ease of use” determines their overall perception and experience with the EHR, affecting patient interactions and time spent documenting”.

An Electronic Health Record is a computerized form of a patient’s medical chart. These records allow information to be readily available to authorized providers during a patient’s encounter with the healthcare system. These systems do not only contain medical histories, current medications and insurance information, they also track patients’ diagnoses, treatment plans, immunization dates, allergies, radiology images and lab tests/results (source). The fundamental aspect of EHRs is that they are able to share a patient’s information quickly across service lines and even between different healthcare organizations. Information is at the fingertips of lab techs, primary care physicians, pharmacies, clinics, etc. The

The Electronic Health Record (EHR) and associated technologies have had a dramatic impact on the UC Davis Health System (UCDHS). UCDHS has realized significant returns on the clinical technology investment in the form of enhanced revenues and reduced costs. The new perspective and approaches enabled by UCDHS‟ EHR are driving improvements in clinical quality and cost reduction. There is no question that these new tools will enable dramatic improvements in care delivery and care quality that were simply not possible in the legacy fragmented paper-based care processes. UCDHS had a clear goal to deploy the EHR across all venues of care (inpatient, emergency department, ambulatory clinics, home health, and Telehealth encounters). Other key goals included secondary use of clinical content, leveraging EHR data to support transitions of care, and to provide better access to clinical data for

However, a failure of this technology, is that some patients perceive documentation with an EHR during the patient encounter as interfering with the communication process by distancing the provider from the patient. Many patients view it as a disconnect in the patient-provider relationship as it has limits nonverbal communication. On the other hand, electronic documentation and handoff allow for greater communication between nurses and providers, who are instrumental in health care delivery (Angst et al., 2012). Angst et al. (2012) further points out that use of EHR and computerized physician order entry (CPOE) has decreased the chances of communication failures by making information legible and easily accessible in comparison to paper based

In this article, Sherree Geyer analyzes how clinical documentation in this EHR (electronic health record) era is affecting care, and what that means moving forward. Geyer takes a look into what is at the core of the problem that has physicians not connecting the dots on clinical documentation. She also addresses what can be done to ease the situation as we move forward in this EHR era.

An electronic health records (EHRs) has the simplest, digital (computerized) versions of patient 's paper charts. But, (EHRs) when fully up and running are so much more than that. EHRs are real-time patient-centered records. They make information available instantly "whenever and wherever it is needed." And they bring together in one place everything about a patient 's health. EHRs can: contain information about a patient 's medical history, diagnoses, medications, immunization dates, allergies, radiology images, lab and test results; offer access to evidence-based tools that providers can use in making decisions about a patient 's care, automate and streamline provider’s workflow, increase organization and accuracy of patient information, support key market changes in payer requirements and consumer expectations. One of the key features of an EHR is that it can

The use of EHRs in the healthcare system will provide the users with correct and complete information about patient's health and allow the provider to give best care possible. It will also allow the patient to receive the best care in an emergency situation, allowing the providers to access patient information instantly to make possible the immediate treatment. Another benefits that patients and health care provider will have using EHRs will be the ability to coordinate care for a patient who have a specific disease that require close monitoring, and will enhance the knowledge of patient and families in how to care for the patient's health. (HealthIT, 2014). Thinking a little further, it can enhance the quality of care that a patient receive, making the provider accountable for caring for the patient and analyzing the necessary data to create better outcomes. It will also help to analyze drug interactions between providers orders and reduce the duplication of orders and

health care centers (Morris, 2014). Employing electronic health record (EHRs) systems is one strategic method health care centers can use to increase patients’ accessibility to care (Shaw et al., 2011). For example, Shaw et al. (2011) emphasize EHRs make it is easier for health care providers to retrieve vital health history information necessary to adequately treat their patients. In addition, after health care providers learn how to properly use all the functions of EHRs, they become more efficient with their time allowing them to see more patients during their clinic hours (Shaw et al., 2011). Therefore, EHRs contribute to health care organizations providing quality care, while also improving patients’ accessibility to health care

The use of electronic health records (EHRs) is a double-edged sword; it helps with legibility and streamlines documentation, but it also puts the provider at risk of liability in many ways. According to Balestra (2017) the EHR reduces patient perceptions of quality of care during the NP encounter by feeling disregarded

Researchers have found a containt between certain EHR systems and and higher rates of errors to medical records because of poorly designed systems or the users weren’t trained properly (menachemi and Collum, 2011). If the users aren’t trained properly they are most likely not inputting the information properly, leading to patients medical records to be incorrect. ACCORDING to Menachemi and Collum (2011), it is shown that have EHR within the hospital can lead to nurses and doctors to become over dependent on technology. Clinics and hospitals should be sure that basic medical care can still be provided without any technology incase a time comes when systems are down. EHRs can also lead to a change in power structure within the organization because certain jobs will no longer be needed (Menachemi and Collum, 2011). It may also cause physicians to lose their autonomy, the ability to function in an independent fashion, in making decisions for the patients “ because an EHR blocks the ordering of certain tests or medications” (Menachemi and Collum, 2011). Doctors and nurses need to make sure they know how to use the systems properly so they do not input or information improperly. They also need to ensure that they can do certain basic procedures without the use of

“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

The implementation of electronic health records (EHRs) will be beneficial to the advanced practice nurse (APN). EMRs are readily available, portable, helpful in improving the safety and quality of patient care, and allow more time for interaction with the patient (Denisco & Barker, 2016). As APNs, EMR will help streamline access to pertinent data needed to make clinical decisions, alerts when an error is about to be made, triggers any allergies, assist in determining a diagnosis and in entering appropriate orders, and prompts APNs when new patterns in patient data are acknowledged (Denisco & Barker, 2016). The use of EMR is a great way to search patient’s information in an organized manner like their history, assessments, lab results, medications, plan of care, procedures, and referrals. By having this relevant information in one place, the APNs can decrease time looking up information and focus their attention on the patient.