Strengths And Weaknesses Of Electronic Health Records

In the medical field there have been a lot of technological advances and making health records electronic is one of them. The days of having a paper health record are almost obsolete. An electronic health record keeps a patient’s medical information and history on a computer which is accessible to more people in less time. I will explain how the continuity, communication, coordination and accountability of the electronic health record can help the medical office. I will explain what can be included in the electronic health record. As an advocate of the electronic health record I will also explain some disadvantages to the electronic system.

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.

Possible benefits included positive patient outcomes as a result of improved quality of care, decreased medical errors, increase in financial revenue for organizations, better ability to conduct research, reduced cost of healthcare for patients, and an overall improvement in health for the general population (Menachemi & Collum, 2011). Disadvantages that were found in the review of literature included the initial cost to implement the electronic health record, continuing maintenance costs, and interruption in workflows that adds to the brief loss in productivity that occurs from healthcare providers having to learn a new system (Menachemi & Collum, 2011). There are also concerns about maintaining confidentiality (Menachemi & Collum,

Over the past few years, we have notice a significant change in the workflow of a healthcare organization. This change is caused by the technological advancements of Health Information Technology (HIT). One of the many technological advancements of HIT is the Electronic Health Record (EHR). Electronic health records are a patient’s paper chart in a digital format. It always contains real time information and can be easily accessible. With EHR put into act, it has the ability to electronically view and share a patient’s medical history, past and current medications, immunization dates, any diagnoses or allergies, as well as testing and lab reports. It is also used to document and store data, in addition with many more abilities. It is important to understand the purpose, application, challenges, and advantages of an electronic heath record. In order to get a greater understanding of its use, we will use a private family medicine practice as the foundation for implementing the EHR.

The advancement in technology has rapidly transformed the world today, and the increase in the number of web-enabled devices has completely changed peoples ' lives especially the way they communicate. Electronic Health Record system, which is a digital copy of a patient’s medical history is one of the revolutionary ideas that have come with this advancement. Electronic Health Records (EHRs) are instantaneously updating records that are patient-centered designed with the aim of providing real-time information to the authorized users (Cohen, 2010). It contains all the patient’s information that is in the hand of the medical providers including their medical history, treatment dates and types, immunizations conducted to the patient and their dates, radiology images and all the laboratory results from the tests conducted in the past. All this information is held in a digital format and can only be updated by authorized users who are stationed in the medical facilities. Electronic records are designed to make it easy for different health providers and organizations to share patients’ information which streamlines their operations since all the necessary information and history can be accessed from any location at any time.

The purpose of this paper is to review and summarize the literature on the pros and cons of electronic health record systems. This paper describes the many benefits of electronic health record systems, which include but are not limited to, less paperwork, increased quality of care, financial incentives, and increased efficiency and productivity. Organizational outcomes and societal benefits are also addressed. Despite the tremendous amount of benefits, studies in the literature highlight potential disadvantages of electronic health record systems. These disadvantages include privacy and security concerns, identity theft, data loss, financial issues, and changes in workflow, involving a temporary loss of productivity. Preventative measures that can be taken are addressed as well. Overall, people believe that the benefits of electronic health records can be realized when they are used correctly, and proper measures are taken to reduce any potential drawbacks.

Technology has come a long way over the years and continues to advance rapidly. The health care system is greatly affected by the advancements in technology. An example of this would be the use of electronic health records (EHR). In this paper I will be describing the electronic health record system. How my facility has initiated the EHR with following the six steps and describe meaningful use and how my facility is working towards this. Lastly I will discuss how to maintain patient confidentiality with use of EHR, and what my facility is doing to prevent HIPPA violations.

Many health care facilities are already starting to use an electronic health record in some of their departments. An electronic health record is a system that allows health care employees to input patient information into a computer system and saves that information into a database for the facility. The information that is being stored directly into the computer system is patients’ personal information (name, date of birth, address, emergency contact information, insurance information, and primary care physician and/or admitting physician), medical history, allergies, current medications, nurses and doctors’ notes, and other information that may pertain to the reason for the visit. Radiology and lab results are also saved into the electronic health record. Even though some health care facilities use a computer system to save some information, there may also be paper work that is also being used. This paper work is scanned into the facilities database so that it can also be saved and viewed if necessary.

In the modern world technology is everywhere and it affects everyone’s daily life. People are constantly attached to cell phones, laptops, and other electronics, which all have affected how people live their lives. Technology is also a large part of the healthcare system today. There are many electronics and technologies that are used in health care, such as electronic health record, medication bar code scanning, electronic documentation, telenursing, and there are many more forms of technology that impact nursing. One technology that stands out is the electronic health record. The electronic health record, also referred to as EHR, is an electronic version of a patient’s chart, and it contains is a list of the patient’s current medications, allergies, laboratory results, diagnoses, immunization dates, images, treatments, and medical history (“Learn EHR Basics,” 2014). The purpose of the electronic health record is to have a patient’s health care record available to health care providers nationwide, but the patient can decide who has access to their record (Edwards, Chiweda, Oyinka, McKay, & Wiles, 2011). The electronic health record is a very important technology in health care and it impacts nurses, nursing care, and has a significant impact on patient outcomes.

Most hospitals, medical practices across the United States are transitioning to electronic health care record system to improve quality measures and manage the number of patients they can generate, retrieve, and accumulate. However, the ambulatory care providers usually don’t use EHR technology to the full extent of its power because it associates barriers that stand in the way of changing medical practices. In this case, the EHR will also examine some of the advantages and disadvantages while medical practitioners make their decision. In ambulatory care, there are many advantages of using electronic medical records, such as increasing the cyber security level and privacy safety, eliminating medical errors, and improving the quality of care.

The use of IT in the healthcare field has been a strategic focus for necessary improvement that stands to enable more cost effective, higher-quality, and far safer patient care according to the Committee on Data Standards for Patient Safety (2003). The National quality forum conceptualized the idea of meaningful use to the nursing fraternity and believed that they were the most critical link in patient care and health delivery and hence technology tools of EHR would be best used by them The purpose of the electronic health records was to improve the health of population, coordination of care, safety improvement in patients undergoing critical and long term care, and patient and family engagement in timely access of

The major change from traditional systems to electronic record systems in the healthcare field within the last couple decades has made a huge impact. Patient records, risk management, planning, staff, and more in the organization are affected by the IT staff. “The penetration of Internet access, mobile technologies and social networks collectively offer a future in which it is possible to deliver highly personalized care without necessarily having to do it in person, or even with a doctor.”(Healthcare IT News, n.d.) Many hospitals use paper records for patients long after electronic record technology was available. According to forbes.com in an article published two years ago, less than 2 percent of all healthcare organizations within the United States had and properly deployed information systems.

Because of the meaning use requirements imposed by the govenrment, an electronic medical record is an integral part of all medical practices. The staff nurse discussed the safety benefits of the electronic medical records as it relates to the patient. The clinical administrator concentrated on the practice management and billing components of the computerized system as well as the quality data that can be captured.

Electronic health records (EHR’s) have many advantages, but there are plenty of disadvantages. EHR’s were created to manage the many aspects of healthcare information. Medical professionals use them daily and most would feel lost without it. Healthcare organizations were encouraged to adopt EHR’s in 2009 due to the fact that a bill passed known as The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH Act). “The HITECH Act outlines criteria to achieve “meaningful use” of certified electronic records. These criteria must be met in order for providers to receive financial incentives to promote adoption of EHRs as an integral part of their daily practice”, (Conrad, Hanson, Hasenau & Stocker-Schneider, 2012).

In today’s medical field technology plays a big role when it comes to patient care. Technology is huge when it comes to giving the patient the best type of quality care when they are in the hospital. In the old days people would just write it down on a sheet of paper and record it by hand, which caused mistakes. Now with the Electronic Health Record those mistakes are drastically declining. Statistics have shown that using the Electronic Health Record has lowered Nursing mistakes as well as improved patient care. Our society has progressed through the years and has been introduced with the Electronic Health Record which has drastically improved our health care system. The Electronic Health Record provides great communication between