Voalte Case Study

EHRs can positively influence workplace efficiency and communication and improve productivity with better access to and organization of patient data (McGinn, et al., 2011). EHRs can improve operational efficiency by providing the capability of sharing of information within the practice. Additionally, health information can be shared with external health care organizations provided the proper interoperability infrastructure is in place. Physicians can access patient information anytime and anywhere the system is enabled, enhancing patient safety as well as quality and continuity of care, particularly for physicians on call or working at multiple sites. They also can have access to drug recalls or other alerts provided through the EHR.

Adoption of EHR can derive a great amount of benefits in clinical outcomes such as patient safety and quality of care. Qualtiy of care can be measured with different dimensions such as patient safety, effectiveness, and efficiency. Patient safety is defined as ‘avoiding injuries to patients from the care that is intended to help them’(Menachemi and Collum, 2011, p. 49). Often times, lack of time can contribute to omission of asking patients important questions such as drug allergy information and confirming important patient identifiers such as addresses/phone numbers. Improvement of medication error is a well-noted benefit of EHR as seen in numerous researches. According to a study, researchers found that a CPOE system was contributory in reducing serious medication errors by 55% in the hospital setting (Bates, 1998). Many other studies have reported similar findings in patient safety improvement. When e-prescribing is used, prescriptions can be checked for any drug interactions with

Muhammed H. (2015) conducted a study to determine the relationship between EHRs and patient safety. According to the researcher, EHRs are healthcare applications that digitize patient information and clinical workflows. It may be considered as a data repository that stores patient data, and assists providers by providing reference information and recommendations for care. Furthermore it enables providers to electronically place orders and consolidate clinical notes across hospital departments. The results showed that about 70% of hospitals in PA adopted advanced EHRs since 2012 and there has been a 27% decline in patient safety events

In 2010, Stage 1 was introduced which focused on EHR data and sharing. Healthcare providers were obligated to store health information electronically in a standardize format that allowed authorized providers and patients to easily access the info. Stage 2 began in 2014, this stage broadened the use of EHR software for health information exchange among providers which will feature enhanced integration for e-prescribing and lab results, increased sharing of patient care summaries, and continuing to encourage patients to engage in their care in order to earn the incentives. Stage 3 began in 2016 which was set out to improve outcomes. To improve the outcome of health for patients on a large scale, the quality of health information exchanged needed to be focused on, giving providers efficient and easy access to comprehensive patient data (LeGate, 2013).

Electronic retrieval of patient demographics, allergies, current medications, complete medical history, diagnostic and radiologic results, etc. occurs by clicking a few buttons. Electronic patient charts provide quick and easy access to physicians, hospitals, independent labs, and pharmacies. EHRs allow simultaneous access by independent providers and allow a collaborative effort for health care management of the patient. “EHRs are the next step in the continued progress of healthcare that can strengthen the relationship between patients and clinicians”. (Electronic Health Records Overview, 2011)

These rewards serve as gratification and the offered initiatives contribute to the prevailing positive attitudes from the physicians toward EHRs. These benefits include improved patient safety and quality of care, the ability to reduce healthcare cost, and ultimately better patient health outcomes and satisfaction. According to Jamoom et al. (2013), having the ability to access the patient’s charts remotely, being warned to critical lab values and potential medication errors, and the systems’ ability to identify needed lab tests are all reported benefits of the EHR. Improved overall patient care, the ordering of less medical test due to the availability of lab results, and the ordering of more on-formulary medications are all advantages that physicians reported occurring due to the adoption of the EHRs. The adoption and implementation of the EHR has presented challenges for information technology. These benefits of the EHR outweigh the initial dissatisfaction of the physicians. For the adoption of EHR to be successful in the healthcare industry it is important that the physician’s outlook remain

The cons of an EHR are part of the driving force behind the model restricted from the need to integrate EHRs throughout the health system and share information with network of referring hospitals. However, this sharing of information is often not possible (EHR,2013). Finding a hospital partner that is willing to open the lines of communication is critical to the success. The cost associated with EHRs is often a deterrent. Not only must the provider pay for the physical hardware and/or software, the organization must also put forth a considerable dollar amount for setup, maintenance, training, IT support and system updates (EHR,2013). With EHRs, much more documentation is required of physicians before, during and after a patient visit. This has its pros and cons. For example, a benefit of more strong documentation is that it provides additional information for the coders that may justify a higher level of service being billed(EHR,2013).

Although, the use of electronic health records (EHRs) not easy for healthcare organizations to implement or even can change due to their old way of doing things. For instance, Ajami at.el. 2011 & Castillo, 2010, both speaks of the importance of executives of clinics, vendors, physician, staff and IS leaders of Electronic Health Records (EHRs) in the marketing, selection, implementation and utilization has contributed to a myriad of problems due to miscommunication, misinformation, and misinterpretation between them. This transition may be a challenge, but may go smoother through communication between each of them. Because it may give each of them the opportunity to share information in writing or speaking, sharing

The EHR article explains the progress and the adaption of rates of EHR systems over the years. The article states there has been a slow participation in the EHR incentive program, but there has been a shown continue increase in implementation in provider settings of EHR in 2014. As for Physician and Hospital, there has not been a fast implementation. Many of these facilities are at only stage one of the meaningful use in 2014 about one out of five hospitals and only 38% of hospitals is at the second stage of meaningful use. There have been gains in the implementation of new EHR systems in 2014 there was a 75% adoption rate in 2014 compared to 61% in 2013 for hospitals and for physicians 62% plan to participate in the EHR

As patient information is readily available in the electronic record, it makes health care provider make better and quicker choices and decisions. These decisions can be based on evidence base care that is supported through data that is gathered from the patient’s records. EHR improves patient safety by providing access to information, eliminating gaps of communication among the different providers, decrease redundancy, and reduces duplication in testing. EHR has benefited health care and at the same time create positive outcomes for the nurses. Some of the positive outcomes for nurses are; comparison of previous to current data, improves documentation of the quality of care, allows recognition of the work done in measurable units by nurses, and reduces redundancy with baseline demographic data (Hebda & Czar, 2013). Data that is summarized through the EHR can evaluate performance management and look at quality issues. Along with those features, EHR can potentially increase efficiency, improved quality of care, standardize documentation, increase clinical workflow, and improved overall outcomes for

al. have also identified open communication as a vital aspect of medical informatics, however they point to the need for hospital administrators and IT professionals to consult with physicians before adopting certain EHR systems (2015). They identify the vendor-provider relationship as a potential issue, wherein vendors prioritize buyer (administrators and IT professionals) needs without consulting with the doctors who use the systems every day. This in turn leads to EHR systems that do not necessarily meet physicians’ needs and do not live up to their potential; to avoid this situation, Shaha et. al. argue that physicians should be involved in acquiring, launching and maintaining EHR systems to maximize their efficacy

The use of electronic health records (EHR) aims at improving the quality and safety of patient care. An electronic health record (EHR) is an electronic version of the patient’s entire medical history including past diagnoses, treatments, and current medications being taken. There has been a rise in the conversion to EHR from paper records because these electronic records can track patient data over time and monitor parameters such as trends in vital signs over time or vaccination history, all which contribute to the improvement in the quality of patient care being delivered (Department of Health and Human Services, 2014). EHR’s are used currently to make more efficient, comprehensive decisions about patients, because there is more information available at the fingertips of the providers. By adopting EHR’s, it can provide health care providers accurate, more comprehensive information about the patient’s health to enhance the ability to provide quick and efficient care, to better coordinate patient care, and to provide a way to share this comprehensive set of information with both the patient and their families (Department of Health and Human Services, 2014). The purpose of this paper is to explore EHR’s in entirety including the EHR mandate, who started it, when it was started, and what the objectives and goals of the mandate are. The connection between EHR’s and The Affordable Care Act will also be explored. Each facility has their own implementation of the use of EHR’s;

Use of an EHR benefits patients and their families or caregivers, clinicians and the organizations that use them. Our Week 4 Lesson reminds us of the benefits of EHR has to make easier access to information and the potential to simplify clinician workflow (CCN, 2016). The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid report the many benefits and disadvantages of the implementation and utilization of the Electronic Health Record. These advantages, “the ability to support other care-related activities directly and indirectly through various interfaces, including evidence-based decision support, quality management and outcomes reporting as well as data accessibility and timeliness will enable providers to make better decisions and provide better care (CMS.gov, 2012). The

Lot of our customers at Emerson (now Vertiv) were complaining about response time of addressing complaints. Meanwhile studying field service reports for technical assessments, I discovered gaps in standard operating procedures of customer service process. So, I volunteered to resolve the short-comings. I found that high hold time of phone lines, because of slow internet speed, was causing the problem. I recommended increasing Internet bandwidth. Management opposed this recommendation. So, as a work-around, I changed the structure of the call center and reduced hold time by 25% in 4 months. Management readily approved my recommendations when I showed them the improvements. Within 6 months, average complaint response and turn-around time increased

With the implementation of the EHRs, patients in the community can have access to their personal health records (PHR). They can have direct access to functions such as secure messaging with health care providers, medication refills, and appointment scheduling. The patient controls their PHR and has the discretion to permit numerous people to have access and data adding privileges. Access to patient’s medical record takes seconds compare to taking days with having paper records. Another thing is that patients do not have to carry a list of the medications they take. Once entered into the system, the record is there.