Return On Investment : Electronic Health Records

EHRs and related systems can be expensive to develop, implement, and support (Wager, Lee, & Glaser, 2013, p. 164). One way to overcome this barrier is by making sure the healthcare organization participates in incentives such as Medicare and Medicaid programs that reimburse a health care organization for using EHRs in a meaningful way. Organization and behavioral barriers include everything from lack of physician acceptance to changes in the workflow to differences in state licensing regulations (Wager, Lee, & Glaser, 2013, p. 165). You can overcome this barrier by helping the health care organization recognize that EHRs will bring about change in the workflow and process. This is a great time for readiness and planning by engaging all staff, which will allow them to become actively engaged in

Moving from a paper-based platform to a digital one is a significant decision. Allowing patient access to personal EHRs empowers patients, minimizes physician error, and reduces cost. Although EHRs offer many significant benefits, the future demand that their risk be recognized and managed over time. This means they must consider not only the financial barriers, but also the technical, time, privacy and change process concerns that patients and provider have on electronic health records. Leadership, teamwork, flexibility, and adaptability are keys to finding better solutions. Electronic health records must be maximized in order to improve the quality, safety, efficient and effectiveness of health

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act made an investment in the year 2009 to encourage the adoption and implementation of the electronic health records (EHRs)(Cite). EHRs incentive payments were authorized through Medicare and Medicaid to clinicians and hospitals when they privately and securely used EHRs for achieving improvements in care delivery by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH). The healthcare organizations are expected to demonstrate meaningful use of EHRs. This rule of meaningful use has been implemented to strike a balance between acknowledging the urgency of adopting EHRs for improving the healthcare system and identifying the challenges that would be put forth

So much so that our political leaders and President Barack Obama have created a stimulus package called the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Within this legislature, improvements to our healthcare industry and systems have been made with long-term financial savings in mind. As technology and uniformed data was becoming the standard in healthcare, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act has accelerated the speed. “The number of certified EHR vendors in the United States has increased from 605,6 to more than 10007 since mid-2008” (Sitting and Singh, 2012). Healthcare organizations now have no choice but to invest in a new

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).

In a healthcare world that operates on stringent budgets and margins, we begin to see the need for a higher capacity healthcare delivery system. This in turn puts pressure on the healthcare organizations to ensure higher standards of patient care, and compliance with the reform provisions. However, these are the harsh realities of today’s healthcare environment, a setting in which value does not always equal quality. The use of technology can help to amend some of this by providing higher capacity care without compromising quality; this can be done with the use of such technology as electronic health records (EHRs). This paper will aim to address how EHRs influence healthcare today by expanding upon topics such as funding sources, reimbursement methods, economic factors, socioeconomic factors, business influences, and cost containment.

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

The use of technology can be seen everywhere in the world today. One area which has seen a big push to add technology is the healthcare industry. Healthcare has now progressed to the age of electronic health records (EHR). The purpose of this paper is to discuss the evolution of the EHR, including the EHR mandate and the role of the Affordable Care Act in this mandate. It will discuss the EHR plan at Hackettstown Medical Center (HMC) to include the progress HMC has made with the mandate. This paper will discuss meaningful use and HMCs status with meaningful use. Lastly, the paper will define the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and what HMC is doing to prevent HIPAA violations.

Resistance towards EHR systems tends to run high among physicians. The increase in the adoption of EHR in health systems has its challenges and concerns. Many physicians complain of negative impact on workflow, productivity disruption, and most importantly the physician-patient relationship. Earnest et al. (2004) concluded that physicians’ had initially thought information technology would be an obstacle to their workflow. Also, federal mandates with deadlines have created an environment where many physician practices have adopted an EHR strictly for compliance without any thought to the ongoing needs of the system (Porter, 2015). The EHRs that were quickly brought to market have been the source of ongoing frustrations and issues since they had the sole purpose of meeting

Use of EHR (electronic health records) in United States has increased in past years and have gained widespread use in the country. The use of EHR-Electronic Health Records or EMR-Electronic Medical Records and the systems that support them have gained standardized collection of health information and data for patient and healthcare providers. Because of these technologies, healthcare providers now have information about their patients at their fingertips, which has led to better and more accurate care. There are debates on using EHR. According to Mushtaq (2015), one of the most common debate is the use of EHR compliance and the value of these technologies that surround them (Mushtaq, 2015). Providers wonder if EHR use is useful and what is to be gained for the HCP-Healthcare provider. In regards to such debates and ongoing conversations, it is important to understand the definition of meaningful use and whether these technologies have resulted in meaningful use. According to Burchell (2016), The government developed the HITECH (Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health) Act of 2009, which incorporates the meaningful use program (Burchell, 2016). The program has goals that tell us how to use the meaningful use with EMR or EHR. It helps HCP and organizations alike attain, use and keep goals like patient and clinical outcomes, individual patient autonomy, and increased transparency for providers. When these goals are attained and kept it will greatly

EHRs have potential in recuperating patient safety. EHRs are efficient as they do not require doctors to use paper records, which in turn result in healthier individuals (Staggers, Weir and Phansalkar, 2008). Furthermore, Canada and many other countries around the globe have invested in EHRs due to the advantages for patient safety. Moreover, EHRs have its advantages, but there are also evident disadvantages, such as financial costs, patient safety, and medical errors (Sparnon and Marella,

With the advent of electronic health records (EHR’s) and The American Recovery Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, electronic health records have become main stream and a requirement for healthcare providers who treat Medicaid and Medicare patients. An electronic health record (EHR) is a digital version of a patient’s paper chart (Health IT, n.d.). EHRs are real-time, patient-centered records that make information available instantly and securely to authorized users. A portion of ARRA provides reimbursements to providers that have EHR’s that are certified for meaningful use. Certified EHR’s meet meaningful use requirements by meeting the government the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH)

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”.

Therefore, several authors share some of the same ideas as to what some of the barriers faced during the transition to Electronic Health Records (EHRs) and if these barriers still exist once the transition to a full EHR system is complete. Herrick, et al., 2010, states that currently, there is no hard-core evidence to support the argument that Electronic Health Record (EHRs) and Health Information Technology is the best route for health organizations to prevent errors. In fact, the use of such technology could potentially lead to errors if information incorrectly entered in the system and Haupt, 2011, statement that smart software could help to prevent life-threatening errors better when administering medicines. Whereas, Boonstra & Broekhuis, 2010, states from a physician point a view need the understanding of the possible barriers that faced during implementation of EHRs because there a tremendous amount of literature on the obstacles but no suggestion on how to resolve these barriers have not been viewed. Barriers such as, financial on great startup and ongoing cost, technical and time to train staff and how much knowledge do they have with computer skills and psychological when support needed from vendors, etc. It suggests that once those barriers have been ironed out and a plan has set in place, then the transition from paper documentation to Electronic Health Records (EHRs) may go a lot easier for the healthcare arena physician, nurses and administrative

The purpose of this paper is to talk about Electronic Health Records (EHRs). Throughout the paper, I will state the EHR mandate, who started it and when, its goals and objectives. I will explain how is the Affordable Care Act (ACA) connected to the EHR. Furthermore, I will describe my facility’s plan and meaningful use. Finally, I will define Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) laws and what is being done by my facility to prevent HIPAA violation.