Technology Is Shaping The Healthcare Industry Fast

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.

Health providers across America are using Electronic Health Records systems to keep up with patient’s health information. Long hours of filing and writing patients health information manually has become a thing of the past. The Electronic Health Record system, known as EHRs, has changed how patients and health providers communicate as a whole. It has taken information technology to a different spectrum, and has helped patients become more aware of their health history and health conditions. Throughout the years, EHRs systems have been crucially ridicule in the medical world, due to lack of knowledge, high expenses, and apprehension among health providers. Because there will always be challenges when new technology starts to expand in any type of establishment. I believe that EHRs serves a great purpose in health care despite its delays.

However, whereas this seems to prove the importance of EHRs there is a need to understand the steps to quality healthcare and how EHRs enable hospitals provide these aspects. This paper will try to bring forth, the true picture of Electronic Health Records effectiveness. It is important to understand what an EHR is. According to this paper, this will take the following definition

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.

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,

Quality, safety, and efficiency are essential attributes that healthcare workers must be able to perform to ensure their patient receives necessary care and treatment. “Implementations of potentially transformative eHealth technologies are currently underway internationally, often with significant impact on national expenditure. England has, for example, invested at least £12.8 billion in a National Programme for Information Technology (NPfIT) for the National Health Service, and the Obama administration in the United States (US) has similarly committed to a US $38 billion eHealth investment in health care. Such large-scale expenditure has been justified on the grounds that electronic health records (EHRs), picture archiving and communication systems (PACS), electronic pre-scribing (ePrescribing) and associated computerised provider (or physician) order entry systems (CPOE), and

Technology has had a role in healthcare for some time, but only recently has it matured to a point where it can support operational, business and clinical functions of healthcare organizations. In the past, many hospitals used technology for specialized departments and unique roles, but the concept of a complete electronic health record system did not exist until the early 2000’s. The American Hospital Association (AHA) Information Technology (IT) Supplement to the AHA Annual Survey stated that in 2008 only 9.4% of hospitals had a basic electronic health record (EHR) system (HealthIT EHR, 2014). They defined a basic EHR as having electronic clinical information that includes results and the ability to enter and view clinical notes. Without the ability for healthcare organizations to capture clinical information electronically, an online patient engagement solution cannot

Electronic health records (EHR) are digital patient records whose interoperable and sharable use can lead to improved safety, effectiveness, efficiency, and timeliness of care. The value of EHR is leading to more efforts into integrating medical organizations with the rest of the health care system to maximize patient benefits and improve transitions of care. Highlighting the case for EHR to health care stakeholders, such as organizations, organizational managers, and practitioners, will help contribute towards the integration above, in the process also supporting policies aimed to introduce EHR in healthcare. The objective of the policy brief is to demonstrate the value of EHR in promoting positive transitions of care and minimizing

One pro of the EHR is that it makes accessing patient information faster since you can easily bring it up on a computer as opposed to going through physical copies. This allows patients to be dealt with properly according to their records.  While the EHR has many benefits,  the one pitfall is that since all this data is made so accessible,  patient information is vulnerable to attack by hackers and those who misuse their authorized access to such information. This puts patients at risk of this information were to be exposed. This is a considerable risk when patients' lives are at stake. EHRs can improve patient health literacy by making information readily assessable to patients to help them make well informed health care decisions. It also empowered patients to take control in managing some clinical conditions that requires skills needed to take care of themselves (Watson,

Have the potential to improve the quality, safety, and efficiency of clinical practice due to their ability to deliver legible and timely access to patient information to multiple users, as well as the ability to provide users with decision support. Unlike paper documentation, use of the EHR allows practitioners to aggregate data, and provides the opportunity to

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

Everything from paying bills, to shopping, to connecting with friends and family has been forever changed by advances in technology. It seems like everyday someone has found a faster, more efficient, less costly way of doing something. Technology has impacted virtually every person and every industry in the world and healthcare is no exception. From minimally invasive procedures, to magnetic renaissance imaging, to the perpetual Electronic Health Record (EHR), technological advances have changed the way healthcare is accessed, delivered, and reimbursed. The implementation of the outpatient EHR however, is the most significant healthcare innovation I experienced in my career.

Across the United States of America, hospitals encourage incorporation of technologies in their daily operations. One component of the so-called “Meaningful use,” is a promotion of EHR use by healthcare providers (McGonigle & Mastrian 2012). New healthcare organizations must embrace technology because it promotes organization growth, efficiency, lower costs and increased profits. My organization opened its doors for business a year ago, and the managers are still pondering on what technology incorporate in its daily operation. The company still uses old fashion paper charting which is vulnerable to high costs and medical errors. We use non-certified computer templates for progress notes, and there is no network communication between departments. For instance, the internal medicine has no access to the psychiatric or psychology department records and vice versa. Introducing EHR in this organization can improve the quality of care and probably cut operational costs. Harnessing technology such as electronic medical records, use of Pyxis machines, e- scribing and eradicate interoperability between departmental computers can improve daily operation and provide seamless patient care. Tools such as e-library can be used for patient education

Health information technology is the future of healthcare. In 2009 the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act which is a part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was enacted (Woten, 2016). The act encourages hospitals to utilize electronic records by 2011 and by 2015 financial penalties for hospitals who do not comply (Woten, 2016). The act is intended to reduce healthcare errors, reduce costs, improve patient safety and quality. Also, hospitals and Medicaid/Medicare eligible providers who implement EHRs that can demonstrate improvement in health care due to the introduction of health information technology will receive financial incentives (Woten, 2016). The hospitals and affiliated providers who do not