Physician-Patient Relationship Management

The United States health care industry is a dynamic industry that is consistently evolving to meet the changing needs of patients. This use of information technology to improve how patients are being managed within a healthcare organization is generating substantial awareness amongst hospitals and physicians. Your CEO hired pClinical Research, LLC to provide a summarized overview on how Healthcare Information Technology (HIT), more specifically electronic medical records (EMR) is impacting the healthcare system. After reviewing this summary, your leadership team will learn how intergrading electronic health records (EHR) within your entire organization will (1) improve patient care management (2) provide financial incentive to your hospital

The healthcare industry is in the midst of a major change from paper based medical record keeping to electronic medical record keeping. As part of the American Recovery and Investment Act of 2009, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act was passed (Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, 2014). HITECH is the U.S. Government’s first major contribution to the change from paper to electronic health information technology by setting meaningful use incentive program for Medicare and Medicaid providers that met certain requirements. Healthcare professionals that meet the meaningful use criteria will be awarded financially, and those that don’t meet the 2015 guideline will be penalized. We live in an electronic world of instant access to information and by adopting health information technology we give providers better and easier access to more information which in turn allows them to make a more informed diagnosis and treatment plan for the patient. The electronic health record (EHR) is part of the new information technology. According to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (2014.), EHR’s provide many benefits such as improvement in the quality of patient care; improvement in the coordination of patient care; more accurate diagnosis and better outcomes; a higher level of patient participation in their own care; and cost savings for the practice

EHRs display vital patient data and clinical information. Data and information include diagnosis, medications, procedures, test results, assessments, problems list, consents, and directives (Barey, McGonigle, & Mastrian, 2018). EHRs allow all healthcare professionals on the treatment team to access data to provide safe and quality care (Rocha & Rocha, 2014). EHRs not only provide pertinent patient data, but also assist in addressing the underuse or misuse of healthcare services. The response to EHRs has raised mixed emotions and positive and negative feedback from healthcare professionals. However, overall, research reveals EHRs can positively impact healthcare (Kutney-Lee & Kelly, 2011). EHRs continue to influence the healthcare system, and make a vital impact on healthcare quality and safety.

In today’s fragmented healthcare system, clinical decisions are made based on the available information. Unfortunately, the available information is not always complete. Patients have been using an increasing number of providers and health systems, many of which have no way to effectively communicate clinical information. This forces healthcare providers to make decisions based on incomplete information at the cost of outcomes to the patients and dollars to the health system. It is estimated that the use of health information exchange (HIE) could save $78 billion in healthcare costs per year (Shortliffe, 2014, p425). A concerted effort to solve this problem began in 2009, when The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology

Additionally, I support your notion that providers need to be aware of the balance between managing information and actual “hands on” patient care. Since, health care information systems can be an extremely valuable tool, it may be easy to spend too much time focusing on the data. Seemingly, there are endless possibilities with unlimited potential when it comes

Better coordination of care – With digital records, clinicians can more easily coordinate and track patient care across practices and facilities. For example, the Mayo Clinic2 offers a “one-stop care” system that provides the services a patient needs—office visits, testing, surgery, hospital visits—under one roof so services can be coordinated and scheduled over the course of a single visit, rather than time-consuming multiple visits. Clinicians across specialties and disciplines also collaborate on

With the introduction of Electronic Health Records, there has been a paradigm shift in the healthcare industry. With the digitization of patient data, sharing details across healthcare settings has become not only easy, but also innately helpful. Most healthcare services have already adopted EHR, and those who haven’t have started doing so.

Electronic health records (EHRs) have the potential to transform the health care system into and organization that utilizes clinical and other health care information to assists providers in delivering higher quality care to patients (Menachemi & Collum, 2011). An electronic health record is an electronic version of patient’s medical history, which includes clinical data, demographics, progress notes, problems, medication, vital signs, past medical history, immunizations, laboratory data, and radiology reports. Benefits associated with EHR are easily accessible medical records, reduction of medical errors, and fewer test duplications and delays in treatment. Electronic health records also improve accuracy and clarity (Menachemi &Collum,

Nowhere in health care has information services and information technology made more of an impact that at the physician services level. The ability to gather and compare data pertaining to a patient’s health care and their treatment plans has provided the physician with the information necessary, in the right place, at the right time, to properly diagnose and treat the patient. The system that has provided the most information and has been paramount in assisting the physician is the inception of the electronic health record.

A clinical information system (CIS) collects patient information from technological applications. The information is distributed to certain locations in the facility/healthcare setting. Locations vary based on unit, such as OBGYN, cardiology, ICU, or psychiatric. The CIS represents the patient’s history of illnesses and interactions with health care providers by encoding knowledge capable of helping clinicians decide about the patient’s condition, treatment options, and wellness activities (Sittig et al., 2002).

In the state of Texas, a physician-patient relationship must be established in all cases to provide telemedicine care. The reason for this is to ensure the patient is who they say they are, to discuss diagnosis/evidence/risks/benefits, ensure a follow up, and more importantly to diagnose the patient with a full medical history. Texas provides two options to establish a physician-patient relationship. The first option is an in-person evaluation where the patient and provider are in the same physical location. The second option is a face to face evaluation that is performed by a distant site provider at distant location in an established medical site. An established medical site is a with qualified patient presenter staff, quality technology

For example, some electronic health record software allows a patient portal to be created within the system. A patient portal gives the patient the opportunity to e-mail their physician directly, schedule appointments, view results of their appointments, and to request refills of their prescriptions (HealthIT.gov, 2014). Having the ability to e-mail their physician directly allows the patient to communicate effectively with their doctors to address questions or concerns they may have without having to schedule an appointment. It is also easier for a patient to review a written reply from their doctor instead of trying to recollect the information mentioned in-person or from a telephone conversation (Weaver, Lindsay, & Gitelman, 2012). Health care providers also have the advantage of being able to connect with their patients through the portal. Similar to the connections amongst facilities, having an electronic connection to their patients allows the patients to receive pertinent information from their doctor in a timely manner, regarding conclusive lab results or regarding future appointments. The database of patients allows providers to send e-mails to select patients with a specific condition and update them with new health information as well. This means that those who have been diagnosed with a specific

If an adolescent male patient is uncomfortable with a female physician examining him, then the physician should ask the medical assistant if a male to assist the situation. The medical assistant will help get the patient comfortable with the situation if a presence of a male is overseeing the examination. Another option can be to have another physician examine the patient. However, as a physician with courtesy, this preparation will set as soon as the patient enters the room. The patient will get a sense of consideration and be comfortable, which allows the physician -patient relationship to start out good.

A positive physician-patient relationships are important in receiving effective medical care. According to a physician survey, "managed care has a negative impact on physician-patient relationships" (Feldman, Novack, & Gracely, 1998). Most respondents indicated spending less time with their patients as a result of increased productivity under managed care. The health care reform focus on reducing costs which put more pressure on physicians. The physicians must continue to see patients, in order to maintain their income. If the perceptions are correct, many patients have less role in making decisions under the managed care, since patient' participation is related to office visits and relationship with physicians (Feldman, Novack, & Gracely,

Customer services is a very important part of managing ongoing client/patient relationships, because they are the key to bringing in revenue. The concept of customer service is to deliver outstanding services so the customers will have a great experience. I currently work in the healthcare industry and the company that I work for is starting to have trainings and meetings to improve customer service to our clients to help increase our patient satisfaction levels. There are some employees who strive to help the patient by going far and beyond their line of duties, and as others are burned out and feel like they just need to get the patient in and out without really understanding the patient’s needs or concerns. Unfortunately, there is a