Patient Information Analysis

Although EMR’s may be taking over the medical world, paper medical charts remain the most well recognized form for keeping medical records. There are however some things within paper charts that some medical personnel might argue make it a primitive aspect of the medical field. One argument in itself is that the abundance of paper that is utilized in paper charting doesn’t stand up to the “green” society we aspire to live in today. “Paper charting used to take so long, the papers would always get unorganized, they took up so much room in the nurses’ station and the worst was waiting for a doctor to finish with a chart so I could chart what I needed to” (Brittney Guggino LPN, 2012). Another acknowledged concern with paper medical charts is the illegible handwriting of clinicians, which is a common, longstanding problem. Being unable to read orders clearly creates an added risk when dealing with patients treatments, medications etc. Paper charts may be familiar but they come with many downfalls and it’s these downfalls which may sway a person’s decision in the opposite direction in regards to the

Electronic health records can provide many benefits for providers and their patients, but the benefits depend on how they 're used. Meaningful use is the set of standards defined by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Incentive Programs that governs the use of electronic health records and allows eligible providers and hospitals to earn incentive payments by meeting specific criteria. The goal of meaningful use is to promote the spread of electronic health records to improve health care in the United States. The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act provides the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) with the authority to establish

Communication is the key in a health care field and having patient portals has increased information sharing between physician, nurses and patients. Patient portal is software that allows patients to get access to their own electronic medical record in a secure, efficient and easy to use program. Patient portals offer updated list of medications, diagnosis, allergies, lab results, patient history and more. Patients have access to their portals, which allows them to keep themselves up to date on not only their history but new information that doctors and nurses have given them. Also, having access to their portal allows them to keep updated information such as, discharge instructions for better care. This eliminates the time the nurses would spend on phone tag. It is a secure online software that provides patients with privacy and own username and password.

As of January 1, 2014 all public and private health providers must have adopted and demonstrated “meaningful use” in order to maintain their existing Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement levels (Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services, 2014). The year 2014 is also significant in that from 2015 onwards, penalties are likely to be levied on entities that are non-compliant with the ability to upgrade to electronic record technologies. The proposed penalty is 1% and likely to increase incrementally to 5%.

Patients and their families can log into the portal anytime to recall the visit and follow up plan (Crane, 2014). Those patients who take multiple medication are easily able to keep track of their medication and request a refill. Patient are engaged as they log in to manage their medications, view labs, or to view a secure message. Studies have shown that patients with portals have more adherence to receiving influenza shots and mammograms as these patients receive important reminders via secure messaging (Goldzweing, 2013). Nowadays, patients want to be part of their medical care and hence improve quality of life. With access to patient data, patient are also willing to learn more about their disease process. Therefor, portal also provides patient with educational materials to understand the disease and treatment plan. Involving patient in their own care will result in better outcomes and adherence to treatment plan. Another result of portal is cost saving. For example, “the secure messaging feature of the patient portal could result in saving of $0.62 per appointment reminder, $1.75 per phone call to patients, and $2.69 for each lab result delivery” (Emont, 2011). While the amount may appear to be small, but it adds up to the overall

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).

In order for hospitals and other health care facilities to prevent the thousands of deaths and injuries that occur every year due to medical errors; health care systems were required to implement new record keeping technology. This technology has made patient information and treatment accessible to all who needed to see it. This is especially important when a patient has more than one attending physician and their care relies on each doctor knowing what the other one has done, serving as the prime communication tool between doctors. If organizations do not centralize their technology and essentially their patient databases, the potential for duplicate work or inefficient patient care can exponentially increase. These high tech medical

Electronic Health Record (EHR) system has the potential to transform the health care system from a mostly paper-based industry to one that utilizes clinical and other pieces of information to assist providers in delivering higher quality care to their patients; nevertheless, some health care organizations have been reluctant in implementing the Electronic Medical Record for various reasons. These include financial issues, changes in workflow, temporary loss of productivity associated with Electronic

Healthcare across the world has changed drastically due to its changing laws. Only until recently were all patient health records created on physical paper. Technology has made a significant change to the way health records are communicated today. As of 2015, any physician who accepts Medicare and Medicaid is required by law to transition the medical records of these Medicare/Medicaid patients from paper to a certified electronic medical record system. The government regulates this by mandating physicians to make meaningful use of electronic health records. The purpose of meaningful use is ultimately to improve care coordination, and population and public health, maintain privacy and security of patient health information, better clinical

John Doolittle once said, “Developments in medical technology have long been confined to procedural or pharmaceutical advances, while neglecting a most basic and essential component of medicine: patient information management”. Millions of Americans and citizens around the world today are prescribed pharmaceutical drugs every year. Some are for simple things, such as allergies, and others are for life threatening conditions if not treated properly, such as diabetes, heart disease, and high cholesterol. Many people diagnosed with these drugs do not even really know what the drugs in question do. In this paper, we will be discussing a few of many drugs that people are prescribed to help them live their daily lives.

While many of the doctor notes are atrociously poor handwritten, others are neat, tidy and immaculate. Some of the doctor’s handwritings are so unreadable that we have to call their office for verification. It is time consuming and also may cause some misunderstanding and errors. It’s good to be digitized because it can potentially reduce medical and communication errors and misunderstandings. A major problem we sometimes encounter is the lack of document standardization to support smooth data exchange between healthcare systems. The lack of standardization complicates documentation exchange and increases labor work which eventually increases the cost of care and can potentially increase the chances of errors and inconsistency. I wish there

There are many ways that health care informatics has improved patient safety. One example includes having Electronic Medical Records (EMRs).These EMRs have greatly improved patient safety including notifications for allergies, clear and organized notes from other health care providers, and the elimination of misinterpreting physician orders based on illegibility. Another example is the barcode on the backs of all medication to ensure nurses are administering the correct medication and the right dose to the right patient. This has improved patient safety by reducing medication errors by using barcodes as an additional safety check during the medication administration process.

There are three different formats of records used in doctor’s offices out there and all for different uses. Some are for private practices, multiple physicians as in clinics and hospital, and some personally managed by the patient. I will explain how each works and how they benefit each you in their own way.

Today’s healthcare environment is rapidly changing, and rightly so. Innovations are critical to cope with an aging population and an increased demand for services. Many patients have a variety of comorbid conditions that necessitate management by multiple physicians. Communication is a key element between a patient and all of their providers to managing these conditions, but fragmentation of care is still major weakness in the current health care system (Shannon, 2012). It is difficult for physicians to keep the patient and all other providers informed of conditions and treatment plan. This creates gaps in care that can result in diminished results. A patient portal can assist with giving patients access to their medical records and a communication platform with their providers. HealthIT (2015) defines a patient portal as “a secure online website that gives patients convenient 24-hour access to personal health information from anywhere with an Internet connection” (para. 1). A patient’s personal health information can include results from an appointment, prescriptions, allergies, test results and discharge instructions. Some portals even allow a patient to enter and track their own results such as weight and home glucose tests. These results can be taken to provider appointments and reviewed by the patient’s care team. In the current healthcare environment, patients are asked to play a larger role in the care they receive. This engagement not only helps the individual

In addition, advances in these technologies have changed the delivery of medical healthcare by giving health care providers like physicians and nurses updated information to be incorporated into the healthcare of their patients. They can use an online medical database to look up case studies and check out details of patient history. Healthcare providers use e-mail, text, videos and conference facilities to communicate with colleagues all over the world. Physicians