The Pros And Cons Of Electronic Health Records

The requirement is that eligible professionals and hospitals should be able to demonstrate “meaningful use” of certified EHRs in order to qualify for incentive payments under the Medicare EHR Incentive Program (“How to attain,” 2013). Practices who do not adopt EHR may be penalized in the form reduced Medicare reimbursements (Bendix, 2016).

According to HealthIt.gov (2014) Meaningful Use (MU) is defined as a “certified electronic health record that helps improve patient quality; safety; efficiency and reduces health gaps; engage patients and

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.

(HealthIT, 2014) Today’s healthcare has been profoundly transformed by computer technology, smart phones, tablets, and web-enabled devices have changed the way we communicate at work and home. Healthcare is full of data and this information is better processed with a seamless flow of information using a digital infrastructure that develops the EHRs. These systems incorporate and control the digital progress that can transform the way healthcare is delivered and compensated. (Levingston,

The electronic health record is the electronic version of a patients’ medical chart (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2012). The information included in the electronic health record is the patient’s demographics and clinical health information, medical history, list of health problems, progress notes, medications, vital signs, laboratory and radiology reports, and physician orders. The purpose of the electronic health record is to prevent medical errors and improve care delivery to provide a safer patient environment (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2015).

We live in a world filled with technology. School teachers and college professors use technology to give lectures, health care professionals use technology to keep medical records, or monitor patient’s vital signs, we use technology such as social media, to connect with people and gain acceptance. In 2014, Gary Turk posted a video to Youtube titled Look Up, in which he argues that technology, such as smartphones, causes us to miss out on certain things in life, because we don’t use it in moderation. Technology benefits our lives by making us more efficient in our professional and personal activities.

Many patients do not fully understand the benefits as well as the drawbacks of an Electronic Health Record (EMR); however, there are many of both. The first major benefit is that you, as a patient, no longer have to remind the provider of previous information, such as orders or allergies. This greatly increases efficiency in terms of patient visit times. Another benefit of an EMR is that a doctor is much less likely to provide medication in error. For example, a patient could currently be taking a daily dose of Aspirin, which is a blood thinner. If their doctor did not know this medication was in use and prescribed them Warfarin, which is also a blood thinner, they have a much higher risk of bleeding. With an EHR, this data is most likely stored in the system, as long as the physician was aware of this. If they were, the system would alert them of this, which would prompt the physician of this, and would not let them order the medication without signing off, agreeing that they are aware of the conflict. There is always a chance for human error, but with an EHR, this is greatly decreased.

The preceding paper discusses the implementation of Electronic Health Records (EHR) in detail. The advantages and disadvantages of the implementation of EHR have been highlighted in the paper. In addition to that, the paper also puts light on the five attributes of an innovation that make it acceptable, which were proposed by Rogers. Apart from that, the paper analyzes the role of nurses as change agents and discusses the method for the successful implementation of Electronic Health Records (EHR) system.

When a person heads to a hospital because they are feeling ill and wish to seek medical attention, quality of care may not be the first thought on their mind. They are pre-occupied with their ailment and may not give thought to the person checking them in or the person taking their weight and height. All of these minor but important actions are part of a much larger picture. They all contribute significantly to the importance of clinical information systems (referred to as CIS) and the effect it has on healthcare quality. The public depends on healthcare providers to help heal them and healthcare providers depend on CIS to help them heal the public.

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).

Meaningful Use – the incentive program with the intention of helping physicians provide better care to their patients through financial rewards and punishments. Those Eligible professionals (EPs) who choose not to demonstrate meaningful use of electronic health records (EHRs) are about to face a 1% penalty in their Medicare reimbursements. These penalties will increase by 1% each year until 2019 when they finally cap-off at 5%. And just to make it that much more aggravating, EPs won’t get away with a one-time demonstration, they must continue to demonstrate meaningful use each and every year through 2019 to avoid these penalties.

Electronic Health Record (EHR) is a method to restore patient health information, such as patient’s demographic, progress note, diagnosis, medication and so on, through electronic form (Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, 2017). The benefit of EHR adoption is not only to replace paper work, but also assist with data creation, management, and sharing of patients’ health information to different providers and organizations across various states (Health IT, 2016). According to the HIMSS (2017), hospitals can be more effectively in evidence-based decision making, quality management, and outcome reporting under EHR systems. The aim of this paper is to explore the five largest hospitals in New York City, the EHR systems that

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.

It is important to understand that patients are very happy and satisfied when it comes to the electronic health system. This paper will discuss some of the benefits of an electronic health system that patients are enjoying.

Today is the information age and the explosion of information technology has transformed every aspect of life in society (MA, et al., 2008). Healthcare information about patients is valuable and it must be well documented, shared, maintained, retrieved and analysed by trained staff. That health information about patients must be protected in its entirety in order to protect from misuse and theft (Sima, et al., 2011).