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
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the electronic health record mandate. Who started it and when? I will discuss the goals of the mandate. I will discussion will how the Affordable Care Act ties into the mandate of Electronic Health Record. It will describe my own facility’s EHR and what steps are been taken to implement it. I will describe the term “meaningful use,” and it will discuss possible threats to patient confidentiality and the what’s being done by my facility to prevent Health Information and Portability Accountability Act or HIPAA violations.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 identified three main components of meaningful use: the use of a certified EHR in a meaningful manner, electronic exchange of health information to improve quality of care, and the use of technology to submit clinical outcomes and quality measures (Heath Resources and Service Administration, n.d.). ARRA includes many measures to modernize our nation’s infrastructure, with the “Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act” being an example. The HITECH Act is an effort led by Centers for Medicare and Medicare Services (CMS) in support of electronic health records and meaningful use (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC 2016). According to Galbraith (2013), the HITECH Act aims to promote the use of EHRs by providing over $27 billion in monetary incentives for health care providers that become “meaningful users”. CMS uses these core objectives to determine if a health care provider has satisfied meaningful use and is eligible to receive financial incentives (Galbraith, 2013).
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
In 2009, the Health Technology for Electronic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) of 1996 was expanded. This expansion included mandated guidelines for health care systems in the Unites States to continue implementing of Electronic Health Records (EHR) in health care settings by 2016 and added a provision to improve protection of patient health information through privacy and security Turk (2015) . The implementation of this program has created a debate in the medical community. In addition, many healthcare organizations and institutions have conducted research studies and surveys to evaluate the effects of the EHR on documentation of care and other aspects of the EHR. Challenges surrounding the HER include, the cost of implementing EHR’s, time spent performing documentation, and patient outcomes and safety and security concerns. Let’s further delve into a few of these challenges.
For over 10 years, all areas of industry have been investing in informational technology (IT). IT offers faster and more proficient care especially for the healthcare industry. Health information technology (HIT) is making significant changes in how care is being delivered and addressed for patients and healthcare workers. HIT includes electronic health records (EHR), personal health records (PHI), electronic prescribing and more. The potential list is endless. HIT provides for more accurate and efficient documentation, prescriptions, and education. The Obama administration came up with an answer to help in HIT by instituting the meaningful use. This paper will discuss the overview of meaningful use, its’ core criteria, and recommendations for additional criteria.
To provide a positive impact on the lives of patients (Fuchs, 2014) based on the care that was rendered to them, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) implemented an incentive program in the year of 2011 and provided bonuses to eligible providers (EP) that displayed a meaningful aspect by way of technology, by using electronic health records (EHR). The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the Meaningful Use program and an analysis of the implications for nurses. Also, in this paper additional recommendations for Meaningful Use will be discussed.
Meaningful Use is a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) program that awards incentives to eligible professionals (EP) and hospitals for using electronic health records (EHR) to improve patient care. This paper will provide an overview of the core criteria providers must follow to effectively use the EHR to qualify for the incentives and avoid penalties. The Meaningful Use criteria is implemented in three stages over five years to improve healthcare outcomes. This paper also explores the implementation of meaningful use in health information and how it has directly affected nursing, the nation’s public health, patient outcomes, and population health. Benefits of EMRs are improved patient care and coordination, quality of care and patient safety, improved efficiency and productivity, and financial savings.
An external strength is the availability of new technology in the workplace. There are many emerging technologies that will change the practice of nursing in the coming decade including genetics and genomics, less invasive and more accurate tools for diagnosis and treatment of diseases, 3-D printing, robotic simulations, biometrics, electronic health records, and even computerized physician order sets (Huston, 2013). This skill set is forecasted to become even more essential in the coming years. One goal identified in the Healthy People 2020 initiatives is use of health information technology to improve population health outcomes and health care quality, and to achieve health equity (Healthy People 2020, 2012).
The goal in healthcare today is to achieve better patient outcomes. Technology is changing daily that affects how patient care is provided. As the world around us continues to move into a more advanced technology based healthcare system incentives are offered to qualifying healthcare entities, provided they are utilizing approved health information technology (IT) to comply with standards set by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) (Jones, Rudin, Perry, & Shekelle, 2014). Standards such as meaningful use help ensure with the use of electronic health records (EHR) that patients are receiving quality care (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], n.d.). This paper will define and discuss the importance and implications of meaningful use relating to healthcare. Several key points will be discussed including an overview of meaningful use, analysis, further recommendations and a conclusion.
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
The Electronic Health Record (EHR) is a vital tool in accessing the important details of the patient, the basic identification such as full name and birthday, the baseline vital signs and the past medical history as well as the current medical or surgical information. The integration of the EHR according to “the Agency for healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) study highlighted the overall economic value” as well of having an EHR (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2015, p. 255). The American Nurses Association (ANA) emphasized its goal of nursing informatics, which is to “improve the health of populations, communities, families, and individuals by optimizing information management and communication” in delivering excellent patient care utilizing the
Living in a world full of technology, more and more of us are overall connected to computerizing, and we expect it to do everything for us. Many years before we didn 't have technology, and mostly everyone was into making it. Now if we look at our world, everything is mostly done online. More Canadians do shopping online, students receive more knowledge about the subject their learning online, booking hotels, flights, and even do schooling online. Though looking after all this, most patients in Canada are still handed with paper based records. When we go to the doctor, most of us still receive handwritten prescriptions and our records are unrecognized.
The answer to collecting patient health information and having it available throughout the network of facilities is ultimately the Electronic Health Record (EHR). Without the EHR, the MCO is still a combination of different facilities that try their best to achieve efficient communication ibn real time. The HITECH Act, a component of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, was signed into law to provide incentives to physician’s practices and other health care organizations for the implementation of EHR. The benefits of EHR include better health care by improving all aspects of patient care, including safety, effectiveness, patient-centeredness, communication, education, timeliness, efficiency, and
Simply stated, the way in which healthcare defines the meaningful use of Electronic Health Records (EHRs) is the improvement of safety, quality, and efficiency of care (Blumenthal & Tavenner, 2010). In order to achieve such broad goals, meaningful use has been divided into three stages over nearly a decade. Currently, the healthcare industry has reached the third and final stage of meaningful use, which aims to simplify the EHR programs and drive interoperability amongst the different EHRs (Athenahealth, 2018). Implementation of the infrastructure should be complete and healthcare providers are expected to begin linking their networks with other networks.
Electronic Health Record (EHR) and Electronic Medical Record (EMR) have become an important component of modern health care. Nowadays, more and more countries including developed countries and some developing countries have implemented EMR in hospitals or clinics to provide better care to patients.