The Impact Of Technological Impacts To Electronic Health Records

After decades of paper based medical records, a new type of record keeping has surfaced - the Electronic Health Record (EHR). EHR is an electronic or digital format concept of an individual’s past and present medical history. It is the principle storage place for data and information about the health care services provided to an individual patient. It is maintained by a provider over time and capable of being shared across different healthcare settings by network-connected information systems. Such records may include key administrative and clinical data relevant to that persons care under a particular provider. Examples of such records may include: demographics, physician notes, problems or injuries, medications and allergies, vital

An Electronic Health Record is a computerized form of a patient’s medical chart. These records allow information to be readily available to authorized providers during a patient’s encounter with the healthcare system. These systems do not only contain medical histories, current medications and insurance information, they also track patients’ diagnoses, treatment plans, immunization dates, allergies, radiology images and lab tests/results (source). The fundamental aspect of EHRs is that they are able to share a patient’s information quickly across service lines and even between different healthcare organizations. Information is at the fingertips of lab techs, primary care physicians, pharmacies, clinics, etc. The

We live in a digital age where everything from photos to important documents is saved or stored online. This includes the use of electronic medical records. The electronic medical record (EMR) is useful in assisting physicians to have a complete and thorough health history of the patient. The EMR serves as a continuity of care from one hospital to another within the same organization (Hsieh, 2014). Consulting physicians also have quick access to recent diagnostic imaging, progress notes, and lab results. EMRs can help manage patients with chronic disease states, aid in data collection for use in research, and prevent adverse drug events (Hsieh, 2014).

The use of electronic health record systems, better known as EHR systems, has skyrocketed within the last five years. Now required by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the EHR has been widely adopted throughout the United States for a number of reasons. it is best known for saving time on charting and billing, however other functions of the EHR can include patient demographics such as allergies, medications, and history, consents and directives, E-prescribing, alerts and reminders, medical reconciliation, and patient education. The EHR also offers other interfaces that are required to exchange information with other providers, laboratories, pharmacies, the patient themselves, and appropriate government agencies when necessary. Some EHR systems even offer programs for patients to use to access their chart and input data, which makes visits easier for physicians because their current symptoms are already in the chart before their

The electronic medical record (EMR) is the replacement of paper manual charts and is being used all across the country. As per Hebda and Czar (2013), the EMR is the “building block” of the electronic health record (EHR), which can be defined as “a longitudinal record that includes client data, demographics, clinician notes, medications, diagnostic findings, and other essential healthcare information” (p.293). The widespread use of EHR’s in America is foreseeable and inevitably unavoidable, but by no means a simple and undoubtedly an effortless task to achieve.

The concept of electronic health records (EHR) was introduced in 2004 (Sheridan, 2012), and in the 13 years that have since followed hospitals across the United States have adopted computer charting systems. As of 2015, 96% of hospitals in this country are using electronic health records systems (Conn, 2016). It is important for facilities to maintain safe and secure computerized charting to better care for patients and to protect and exchange medical information.

Electronic health records have propelled IT into the next generation of healthcare. Not only is everything at the providers fingertips, it allows autonomy for the patient. Our world is becoming very digital, from purchasing concert tickets, to applying for college, this is done at the click of a fingertip. Yet healthcare has aspects that are still stuck in the paper documentation era. From receive paper prescriptions from their doctors to filling out patient history every time someone sees a different physician, there is still work to be done to seamlessly transition to a digital platform. According to Collum and Menachemi, EHRs are defined as “a longitudinal electronic record of patient health information generated by one or more encounters in

Achievements in public health and technology have created growth in the health care industry. Significant advances in prevention as well as declines in death rates have created a need for a more sophisticated system of record keeping. While monitoring the health of the nation, planning and developing better health services, and delivering effective and efficient care is now more important than ever. The need to manage patient data has increased as well. Moving from a world where paper records are kept in file cabinets, to implementing a system where documents are stored and maintained on computers and accessed through EMR systems is a complicated procedure for a large system, let alone the smaller independent practices that still

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,

Electronic health records (EHR) is an electronic version of patient charting. It is used to safely store information related to patient’s care, such as past medical history, surgeries, allergies, medication profile, demographics, laboratory and x-ray results, and personal information. All this information is readily available and shared among other authorized healthcare professionals across different health care settings. These records systems keep everyone organized and can be easily accessible at any time of the day or night. The EHR system is designed in such a way, that it tracks patient 's data accurately all the time, as this prevents data redundancy, and it only allows for information in the patient’s modified file to be updated at any given time. The use of EHR’s provides health professionals with valuable information that they can use to make sure their patients receive the best care they deserve. It has been shown that these systems have been the justification for many essential improvements for health care providers and their patients. With that being said, the use of electronic health records has improved the quality of patient care and patient safety.

EHR has enormous effect on the modernization of the healthcare field. It is a continuing electronic record of patient medical information created by one or more persons in any healthcare delivery system (Huston, 2013). Encompassed in this data are patient’s vital signs, statistics, and health issues, also include progress notes, past surgical or medical record, treatments, vaccinations record, radiology reports, and laboratory tests result (Eisenberg et al., 2013). The EHR has the

These savings are a direct reflection of improved efficiency and safety that the EMR system would theoretically allow. The efficiency of the EMR system should also allow providers to share a patient’s chart. This will allow all of those patient’s providers, regardless of location or specialty would have the capability to access and add to this same chart throughout that patient’s life. The result of this would be reduced re-testing, reduced administrative costs, and shorter hospital stays. Perhaps, the most important reason to utilize an EMR system is to increase the safety of the patient’s care. Studies show that medication errors account for about 8 million outpatient errors a year (Yoffee, 2011). EMR systems are designed to alert the prescriber of any duplications and/or adverse reactions to other medications that the patient is

In today’s health care industry many facilities have transitioned over to using electronic health records (EHRs) to assist them in providing patient care. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) (2012) define the electronic medical record as “an electronic version of a patient’s medical history, that is maintained by the provider over time, and may include all of the key administrative clinical data relevant to that persons care under a particular provider” (para 1). With EHR’s, medical facilities often have the potential to retrieve pertinent medical information that may be required to assist the physician during a patients office visit.

The Cleveland Clinic is one of the largest and most respected hospital systems in the United States. It boasts more than a dozen hospitals over several states and countries, over 15 family health centers in Ohio, more than 40,000 employees, and millions of patient visits yearly from all over the world (Cleveland Clinic Foundation, 2013). Needless to say, the implementation of a systemwide EHR was a monumental undertaking and Cleveland Clinic wisely chose to do this with an IT consulting firm (CCF, 2013). In 2003, Cleveland Clinic converted the paper medical records in its family health centers to electronic medical records (EMR). It implemented this conversion to enhance care coordination by enabling healthcare providers to immediately access items in the patient records such as prescription histories, radiological studies, and lab records (McCormack, 2017). Nearly a decade later, CCF began the colossal task of implementing EHR across the entire care continuum to connect care across all of its facilities, along with computerized physician order entry capabilities (CPOE) (CCF, 2013).

As patients go from one hospital to another or visit a specialist. It also allow nurses to view patients records online, scans of X-rays, MRI results or CT scans, and provide both doctors and nurses with a complete patients record history. Most patients will encounter the benefits of healthcare technology through an electronic record keeper at their primary doctor’s office or at a hospital. In another words, it would make life easier for both the patients and their nurses or doctors. One of the most important things in the healthcare system technology is The Electronic Health Records (HER) which is a digital version of a patient’s paper chart. It has the ability to exchange health information electronically; it can help you provide higher quality and safer care for patients while creating tangible enhancements for any organization. It also helps providers better manage care for patients and provide better health care. Most of all the EHR can contain a patient’s medical history, diagnoses, medications treatment plan, immunization dates, allergies, radiology images and laboratory and test results.