OMOO8 APA INTEXT CITATION GRADE A

Your E-mail address:

Date: 10/21/2018

Instructions

Write your responses where it reads “Enter your response here.” Write as much, as needed, to satisfy the requirements indicated. Each item contains the Rubric that will be used to evaluate your responses.

1. Healthcare information exchanges (HIEs) are maturing and providing opportunities for healthcare providers and payers to collaborate on patient healthcare records and to streamline care. The proliferation and acceptance of healthcare information exchanges are slow, as they are not widely accepted. Describe the overall advantages of HIEs. Explain the root causes of the issues with these exchanges, and describe what strategies are underway to drive acceptance. (1–2 pages)

Your Response

Health Information Exchange (HIE) refers to the electronic transfer of patients’ information among health caregivers across institutions within a particular region, community or hospital systems (Esmaeilzadeh & Sambasivan, 2016). Though not widely accepted and used globally, HIE has proved to be beneficial to organizations which have subscribed to this technology. Some of the merits of HIE include:

I. HIE enables access to and recovery of clinical information to facilitate efficient, effective, safer, timely and equitable patient-centred care.

II. HIE is imperative to the public health authorities as it enables them to analyze health of a given population.

III. HIE system smoothens the efforts by health practitioners to meet and maintain the high standards of patient care via electronic participation among health caregivers with different experiences resulting to improved patient care.

IV. Secondary health caregivers benefits from this technology including reduced expenses related to; manual printing of documents, scanning and faxing; as well as maintenance costs associated with office machines; time and effort required to retrieved lost patient files as well as communications required to verify test results among others.

V. The technology reduces mortality rates and health care costs as it leads to improved patient safety, care received and coordination among the staff (citation needed).

Despite their immense contribution to the quality of service delivery in health care organizations, HIE is faced with significant some challenges which have limited its application and success. One of the root cause problem with this technology relates to ensuring privacy of health data throughout the exchange process between health caregivers as required by the federal and state regulations on data security for patients. Additionally, as required by the HIPAA Privacy Rule permits on data sharing, cybersecurity attacks have raised serious questions on security of client’s data such as sensitive information like patient PII and PHI. Other challenges include difficulties associated with matching patients’ data accurately to their previous health records and reported issues associated with the cost of exchanging electronic health information (Vest & Gamm, 2010). Comment by Dr. Steve: Good Comment by Dr. Steve: Good

To address the above challenges and improve acceptability of HIE, reducing data exchange obstructions brought by the HIPAA policies will help in reducing the burden between organizations. Another remedy will be accountability among participating providers in order to improve trust of patients to the whole process of records exchange. Similarly, reducing administrative burdens by facilitating a collaborative process to enable evaluation and rationalization of existing regulations will help in reducing the regulatory burdens, and thereof boost efficiency that will, in turn, improve patients’ experience. Also, involving healthcare stakeholders through consultations will be imperative in reducing administrative burdens, enhancing interoperability as well as strengthening data exchange options. This also help in developing a health care system centred on value-based care whereby patients are placed first in the whole process. Lastly, focusing on healthcare data security is will be critical in assuring patients that their data is safe and protected as provided by the Federal and States regulations (Vest & Gamm, 2010). Comment by Dr. Steve: Good Comment by Dr. Steve: Good

Rubric

2. Surveys show that healthcare provider satisfaction is related to the technology available to them in providing patient care. Identify the health information technology most used in patient care and the advances in technology used to enhance patient care. (2–3 pages)

Your Response

Evolution and advancement of technological innovations have profoundly impacted industries over the past decades. In healthcare sector, technology is progressively playing a critical role in nearly almost all organizational processes from registration of patients to data monitoring starting from laboratory tests to self-care tools. Tools such as smartphones and tablets now replace conventional monitoring and records tools and patients have an option consulting with their physicians and doctors at comfort of their homes. Some of the popular technologies include; Electronic Health Records (EHR), Smartphones, tablets and applications (mHealth), Telehealth tools (Telemedicine), Surgical and Service line, Hybrid operating rooms, Infection detecting technologies among others (Hillestad et al., 2005).

However, among these technologies, EHR technology remains to be one the most popular technology in the past decades compared to other technologies. In 2009, about 16% of the United States hospitals were using EHR, but these numbers increased progressively to about 80% in 2013 (Hsiao, Hing, & Ashman, 2014). In practice, EHR refers to a digital or electronic format concept of a patients’ past and present medical records. The system is centered on principle of storage of health data of a patient to provide good medical care for the said patient in future. The stored data is maintained by a health caregiver and can be shared across various healthcare setting by use of well-connected information platforms (Gardner, 2011). There are numerous and imperative merits of using EHR in a clinical setting as listed below: Comment by Dr. Steve: This is very old data – much more recent data is available in the literature and should be used

I. The technology provides accurate, updated and complete information concerning a patient, therefore, improving the quality service care they obtain from hospitals.

I. It enables quick access to clients’ health records by service providers’ thereby boosting coordination and efficiency of care get.

II. The system enable safe and secure platform to share electronic data with patients and healthcare providers.

III. The technology enhances interaction and communication between patients and clinician thereby increasing healthcare convenience.

IV. The system enables safer and more reliable prescription of medicines.

V. Enhances legitimacy, completeness of documentation as well as accurate, efficient coding and billing.

VI. The technology enhances privacy and security of patients’ health records.

VII. It boosts service providers’ productivity in work.

VIII. Reduces costs associated with paperwork, duplication of tests and machine repairs and maintenance.

IX. Reduces chances of medical errors thereby enhancing patient safety as well as stronger basis for clinical decision-making.

X. Makes it easy to gather and analyze patient data that improve outreach to discrete populations (citation needed).

In conclusion, considering the above advances in EHR in enhancing patient care, there is need to embrace the technology across board by taking advantage of the progressive electronic interconnection in the healthcare sector (cite?). This will boost effectiveness of health care services and patient care in future. Comment by Dr. Steve: This is vague Comment by Dr. Steve: You correctly identify EHRs as the health information technology most used in patient care, but your discussion of one advancement needed is too vague. Please expand you response by more precisely identifying and discussing an advancement needed (e.g., increased interoperability). Additionally, you have not adequately cited your response.

Rubric

3. Healthcare providers are taking advantage of real-time tool location systems (RTLSs) to monitor both their organization’s hardware assets and patient progress. Examples of these systems are radio-frequency identification (RFID) tracking for patient flow, asset tracking for equipment location, and ultrasound tag tracking. Explain how hospitals can reduce costs and increase quality of care by using these tracking systems. (1–2 pages)

Your Response

The use of real-time tool location systems is gaining ground in the healthcare sector for some reasons. One of the reasons is the costs of health care which has been on the rise and hospitals, and other health providers are starting to formulate ways of cutting down the costs. High costs of healthcare may bar consumers from going to certain healthcare organizations despite the fact that they need it. By using the real-time tool location systems, healthcare organizations have the opportunity to account for every step of care that is undertaken. These tools can be used to prevent theft at health facility since the assets are tagged with trackers that can show their location within the hospital. The costs that are incurred by the hospital through the employment of assistant staff can be reduced through the deployment of real-time tool location systems, for example, if a nurse needs a wheelchair to wheel the patient to the radiology department, the next available wheelchair can easily be located through the asset tracking for equipment and this helps to reduce the time and consequently the costs of treatment. Comment by Dr. Steve: Citations? Comment by Dr. Steve: You have described one example of how hospitals can reduce costs and increase quality of care by using tracking systems, but to meet expectations, you need to provide at least two. Additionally, your response is not supported by relevant academic resources.

Use of real-time location systems improves the quality of care offered by the healthcare organizations that have embraced their use. Radio-frequency identification (RFID) was originally being used in businesses where it was helping to track cargo within a warehouse; it has now been implemented in healthcare where it has been useful in tracking patients and hospital assets in ways that have improved the quality of care (Paaske, Bauer, Moser, & Seckman, 2017). One notable application of radio-frequency identification is in the setting of home care facilities including nursing homes and other healthcare facilities where it is being used to track the movements of patients with Alzheimer’s disease and in dementia patients (citation). Comment by Dr. Steve: How does this enhance quality? Please expand by explaining not only how the technology is used, but how this improves the quality of care.

Rubric

4. A survey found that 70% of doctors use electronic health records in one form or another. Explain how sharing electronic health records among doctors, patients, and payers can enhance the health of patients through effective clinical decision support. (2–3 pages)

Your Response

The use of EHR to securely transmit patient health data among health care providers will enhance coordination of health care for the 60 million Americans with multiple chronic complications. This is because the system enable clinicians to communicate with one another about patients. Nonetheless, today the existing medical care systems do not facilitate easy and effective communication between clinicians and their workmates. In this regards, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) associates ineffective coordination among caregivers to poor services to patients and, thus recommends use of EHR as one of the ways of improving service care to patients (Rahman & Reddy 2015). Comment by Dr. Steve: Good

Scholarly studies indicate that patients with multiple chronic illnesses are likely to be hospitalized as well as consult with several clinicians, take several prescribed drugs and or be visited at their homes by different health practitioners. Further, studies show that a patient with more than five chronic conditions fill an average of forty-eight (48) prescription, consult over fifteen (15) different doctors and receive nearly almost sixteen (16) home visit by health caregivers in one year (citation?). Other studies show that poor coordination among doctors/clinicians/nurses/lab technicians among others has been associated with poor clinical decisions such as unnecessary hospitalization of patients, duplicate costs, confusing and conflicting medical advice as well as terrible drug reactions (citation). For instance, a study by Wolff, Starfield, and Anderson in 2002 showed patients with more than four chronic diseases are 99 times likely to have unnecessary hospitalization compared to those without chronic illnesses. This study means that there is need to improve coordination and data sharing among health practitioners as the growing evidence attest to the immeasurable value of EHR in improving care to patients. Comment by Dr. Steve: This sounds like really good evidence, but you have not cited your resource for this information

Electronic Health Records steps in as an enabling tool towards efficient health care systems to patients as it improves the output of decisions made by doctors and clinicians. For instance, EHR enables healthcare providers treating patients in a diverse setting to exchange and progressively update their clinical data in logical way that makes it easy for other clinicians to access the data quickly. As outlined by the IOM committee the principal functions of the EHR is storage of health information, improvement of result management, support decision making, enable electronic communication, improve patient support and promote administrative processes, reports and population health management (Rahman & Reddy 2015). Comment by Dr. Steve: Good

Additionally, EHR allows health care providers to enter individuals’ record number and be able to view their menu that shows patients current medications, health issues, their medical history, images and health records on diagnostic procedures, allergies, contact information of all doctors they consult, family caregiver, instructions on appropriate care as well as clinical decision support. In conclusion, health caregivers, policymakers and payers who are vital stakeholders in enhancing medical systems in the U.S recognize EHR and the role it plays in improving health of Americans. With the new emphasis and efforts from the Federal and States government members of the public are in the process of be taught the benefits of these techniques in order to increase its acceptability. Although there are some challenges in realizing the full results of this system due to some barriers such costs of implementation hospitals are encouraged to adopt it in order to improve quality of care for all Americans (Rahman & Reddy 2015). Comment by Dr. Steve: Good

Rubric

5. Describe how healthcare provider organizations can leverage health information technology and improve the processes of care delivery to provide better patient quality of care. (2–3 pages)

Your Response

Considerable coordination is undeniably required among unaffiliated professionals and institutions providing health care and, more so for the patients suffering from chronic illnesses. The IOM has been publishing reports identifying opportunities and weaknesses of various technologies which can help organizations boost their service deliveries to the patients. In one of its reports published in 2002, IOM identified weaknesses associated with poor coordination of caregivers and risks linked with failure to implement various available technologies in hospitals. The report further opined that a team of caregivers frequently administers health care, even though, the efficiency of the said teams is limited by tendencies aimed at protecting professional prerogatives and separate responsibilities resulting to loss of continuity as far as patient care is concerned, redundancy, unnecessary costs as well as miscommunication (Jones et al., 2014).

The United States governments is currently responding to these challenges in bid to boost adoption of these technologies in order to improve health care among its citizens. For instance, the government has enabled policy programs to respond to the weakness associated with organizational care delivery as well to improve coordination in bid to enhance quality and efficiency of services. A health reform regulation that was passed in 2010 required organizations to contract with network of health providers including hospitals, practitioners, and self-organized into Accountable Care Organization (ACOs) in order to improve quality of health services as well as reduce associated costs. As provided by this policy initiative, Medicare organizations are required to enact mechanisms like bundled payments to teams of caregivers for episodes of care to promote more intensive coordination. Notably, these payments mechanisms are proposed to present incentives for promote more cost-effective care by enabling tracking measures of performance as well as allowing saving of costs shared among caregivers (Jones et al., 2014). Comment by Dr. Steve: What was this called

Adopting health Information Technology (IT) can also contribute to the goal of enhancing coordination among health practitioners. Therefore, by taking advantage of IT, organizations will be able to save more by avoiding unnecessary test as well as other efficiency improvement costs amounting to tens of billions dollars in a 10 – 15 years period. Other studies project annual saving amounting to over $80 billion and $1.7 billion from effectiveness in outpatient imaging techniques. Even though these projected savings are majorly guessed from educational know how, they entail conventional wisdom that IT in health care can help boost efficiency in service delivery and patient care. To fully reap the fruits of health IT, organisation organization can also do the following (White, 2015):

I. Promote the practice culture that has a strong commitment to using health IT to deliver care services to patients.

II. Invest on high-functioning health IT tools to enables providers track and extract patient data as need be.

III. Build the capacity of clinicians and other staffs by training them on IT to boost their knowledge and skills.

IV. Implement on practice processes as well as workflows that place efficient use health IT at centre of its operation.

V. Provide financial incentives to compensate training, capital and practitioner’s time costs related to health IT activities.

Lastly, with adoption of these single measures, hospitals will be able to take advantage of health IT and as result improve their service delivery to patients. Comment by Dr. Steve: You have a lot of good background information here, but your response vaguely describes relevant examples of how healthcare provider organizations can leverage health information technology and how they can improve processes to provide better patient quality of care. Please expand your discussion by including examples such as CDS and/or CPOE.

Rubric

6. Describe how healthcare payer organizations can use healthcare information exchanges (HIEs) to improve processes of care delivery that enhance the quality of service they provide patients. (1–2 pages)

Your Response

Healthcare information exchanges involves the process where the healthcare providers including physicians, pharmacists, nurses, and other health care providers access medical records that relates to the patients and then share the same with the patients themselves as well as healthcare payer organizations (Health Information Technology, 2018). The sharing of information through the healthcare information exchange program has enabled healthcare payer organizations like the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to be able to expedite the process of reimbursement, as well as formulate better health insurance plans. One of how healthcare payer organizations can use this channel to improve the processes of care delivery is through tracking of the consumer’s medical records promptly in order to improve diagnoses. Provision of such information to the payer organizations will help to avoid things like duplication of tests that often times slow down the process of treatment as well as increase the costs of treatment (citation).

Healthcare payer organizations can use the records provided through healthcare information exchanges to hold healthcare providers accountable in case of medical errors. This close regulation is crucial in safeguarding patient safety which positively impact the quality of services delivered. Also, healthcare payer organizations can use healthcare information exchanges to identify any existing gaps in health insurance plans (citation). Identification and subsequent bridging of those gaps only serves to improve the quality of care given to the patients. By publishing the results of surveys conducted using healthcare information exchanges, healthcare payer organizations can effectively discourage rogue healthcare providers as well as the inefficient providers. Healthcare payer organizations can introduce better policies that will improve the quality of services being provided by the healthcare providers since they have access to crucial information made available through health information exchange. Comment by Dr. Steve: What is your reference for this? Comment by Dr. Steve: You have some good content here that is responsive to the prompt, but your response is not supported by references to academic resources.

Rubric

7. Explain how industry standards for interoperability of electronic healthcare records can enable secure and private access to patient data. (2–3 paragraphs)

Your Response

Interoperability refers to the capacity of an Information Technology system to connect and work with other IT system components without the user necessarily putting individual efforts on their part. Thus, interoperability is an integral step towards increasing quality and importance of IT products in healthcare sector. To ensure security and privacy of patient data, there are privacy and security standards that have been set by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act – HIPAA. These regulations require entities under HIPAA to be accountable for the privacy and security of their client’s health data (Rodriguez, 2011). Comment by Dr. Steve: HIPAA is an administrative act, not an industry standard

HIPAA Privacy Rules provide patients with rights to: see or acquire a copy of their medical record; request to have any medical error corrected, get notice or information on how their health records is used and/or shared; and to file a complaint when they have reasonable reasons that their rights are violated in one way or another. Specifically, to protect patients information stored in Electron Health Records, the HIPAA Security rule demand providers to set up physical, administrative as well as technical protections to cushion patients HER by (Rodriguez, 2011):

I. Providing for access controls including passwords and PIN codes to limit access to patients information;

II. Encrypting patients stored information so that it can be read or understood except by a person who can decrypt it by use of special keys availed by authorized person.

III. An audit trail to track changes made and by who; where they are made and when. Comment by Dr. Steve: Explanation of how industry standards for interoperability of electronic healthcare records can enable secure and private access to patient data is missing. Examples of standards you might discuss include HL7, DICOM, LOINC, SNOMED CT and/or SCRIPT.

Rubric

8. Describe how medical information exchange and applied healthcare interoperability standards for healthcare record communications can increase efficiency of inter-departmental communications, between general practitioners and specialists, and between providers and regulatory agencies. (2–3 paragraphs)

Your Response

Medical information exchange and applied healthcare interoperability standards for healthcare record communications can increase the efficiency of information sharing between the various departments within a hospital. This is made possible because healthcare providers work as a team in the management of patients. Also, medical information sharing will encourage timely sharing of information regarding the patient and this completeness of patient’s records will promote efficiency. All departments in a hospital work in sync with the hospital’s goals and mission and this kind of efficiency brings good patient outcomes (Health Information Technology, 2018).

Health information exchange also has a bearing in the referral system where the general practitioners and specialists can manage the patients more effectively since the medical information of the patients is given on time. This makes the referral system work efficiently which is an advantage to the patient. The regulatory agencies can access medical information through the health exchange programs which guides them in their regulatory role over the health care providers (Health Information Technology, 2018). Comment by Dr. Steve: A description of how industry standards for healthcare record communications can increase efficiency of inter-department communications, between general practitioners and specialists, and between providers and regulatory agencies is missing. Examples of some standards that facilitate communication between departments include ICD-10/11, CPT codes, and HL7.

Rubric

9. Describe how healthcare organizations can adopt social media to enable patient access to the organizations and their staff and to address patient healthcare issues. (1–2 pages)

Your Response

Social media refers to the internetInternet-based tools which allow communities and individuals to collect and communicate, share ideas, images, information, messages among other contents in real time. Today, many social media platforms provide distinct features to meet different needs of the users. These social media platforms sere the following functions; social networking (Twitter, Google Plus, MySpace, Facebook), professional networking (LinkedIn), Content production (blogs, twitter), media sharing (Flickr and YouTube) among others. As result of their immeasurable role in information sharing and transfer of knowledge between people, social media tools have been imperative for healthcare professions (HCPs) and patients in enhancing quality healthcare (Ventola, 2014).

Some of the typical social media tools that are commonly used by the general public include Facebook which has over 1.5 billion users globally, Twitter which records over 100 million twits tweets a day and YouTube whose over 2 two billion videos are viewed daily. Currently, health organizations are taking advantage of the available social media tools to enhance the quality of services they offer to their clients. For instance, Georgia Health Sciences University created WebView platforms to enable patients reach out to doctors and ask them questions about their health and request for prescription refills. Similarly, physicians can use social media platforms to provide patient education as well as monitor their health progress in a bid to promote behavioural change and better use of prescribed medicine with long term objective of increasing compliance and increasing the outcomes of their medical care (Ventola, 2014). Comment by Dr. Steve: Good

Empirical studies have shown that electronic communication between physicians and patients can improve health care and outcomes as they can enable providers to advise patients on management of chronic diseases. These platforms can also improve patient satisfaction significantly by increasing the time they spent consulting with physicians. One survey conducted in the United States found that 56% of patients at an outpatient family practice clinic wanted healthcare professions to use social media platforms to remind, schedule appointments, diagnostic test results, notify prescriptions and answer relevant questions asked by the members of the public. The study also noted that respondents who were not familiar with social media tools were ready to embrace them to connect with the health caregivers (Ventola, 2014).

Lastly, organizations can adopt use of social media to provide patient education as studies have shown that in the United States, 8 eight out of 10 internet Internet users search for healthcare information online and about 75% of these users usually use social media. Many providers believe that social media would be of paramount importance to patient with chronic illness, maternal and infant care, weight management, and personal health-related goals. Studies have shown that medical interventions through the social media can positively influence tobacco cessation, weight management, and physical activities among others. Some of social media tools like PatientsLikeMe have played a huge role in connecting patients with similar diseases to enable them access information, support and suggestion from patients with similar conditions and diseases (Ventola, 2014). Comment by Dr. Steve: Very good

Rubric

10. Describe how physicians can use the Internet and social media to enhance their interactions with medical services that affect their patients. (1–2 pages)

Your Response

The internet Internet and social media have been imperative in enhancing social interactions between physicians. For example, pharmacists can use social media to communicate with their colleagues regarding their patients issues (Ventola, 2014). Besides clinical matters, professionals can use social media platforms to address other diverse subjects related with their professions such as ethics, biostatistics, politics, career strategies, practice management and dating in the medical environment. These platforms can also help HCPs who subspecialized to enhance their skills and competency in a bid of improving service care. Another merit of professional networking among health caregivers is that it enables them to crowdsource information that entails harnessing the skills and knowledge of a given population to enable them solve problems and collect information and opinions. Similarly, HCPs from least developed countries can use these social tools to connect with experts from developed countries in order to improve their medical care in their respective countries. For instance, surgical procedures can be streamed online through internet Internet channels and help in sharing skills and knowledge between physicians as well as help in answering questions (Bulbey, 2015). Comment by Dr. Steve: What’s a HCP? Always spell out first, before using the acronym Comment by Dr. Steve: Interesting

In a nutshell, HCPs can use social to:

I. Share information: HCPs can use social media to share information quickly with their colleagues. For instance, sharing information about an outbreak or health hazard between professionals can significantly help in management of the said risks. Other ways of sharing information through social media include: sharing updates on emerging technologies; introduce new HCPs in practice on social networks; answer questions on subject matters in healthcare; and deliver pre-and post-operative healthcare information.

II. Compare and enhance health care: HCPs can use social media to evaluate their competitors and get insights on how to improve their service delivery.

III. Live broadcasts during surgical procedures: social media tools such Facebook now have platform to update live events and as such experienced doctors can use this opportunity to share live videos during surgical procedures.

IV. Communication during crisis: social media tools can enable HCPs to share information during time of crisis and as such improve response strategies. Citations for this information are needed, but your content is good.

Rubric

11. Explain how the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) promotes the adoption of technology to improve the quality of care. (1–2 pages)

Your Response

The use of health information systems and EHRs to reform health reforms has been persuasively addressed throughout the PPACA. Although, the Act does not spell out any significant initiatives focusing particularly on EHRs, HIT, throughout the Act, the word HIT is used more than forty 40 times (Legal Alert, 2010). The PPACA underscores the use of HIT-related technologies and EHRs in provisions related to measuring and promoting quality, developing new methods and approaches for health care delivery, and attaining other goals. Some of the provisions of PPACA concerning HIT and EHRs include (Legal Alert, 2010):

I. Incorporation of Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) and Meaningful Use Reporting: The PPACA requires the Secretary of Department of Health and Human Services to incorporate various reporting mechanism for the PQRI as well as most recent electronic health records. The Act required these measures to be effected not later that 1st January 2012. Comment by Dr. Steve: Excellent

II. Administrative oversimplification: the Act amended HIPAA to require the Secretary of Department of Health and Human Services to promulgate regulations to standardize transaction code sets which allow use of machine-readable identification card. Comment by Dr. Steve: good

III. Medicare advantage bonus payment: as from 2014, the act provided for bonuses for Medicare Advantage Plans that use one or more specified types of programs like HIT initiatives such as clinical decision support in a bid to improve patient care. Comment by Dr. Steve: Good

IV. National strategy: the act required the Secretary to start a national strategy to enhance the delivery of healthcare services, population health as well as patient health outcomes. The strategic plan is proposed to require to embrace technology heavily. Comment by Dr. Steve: OK

Rubric

12. Describe how the federal government has sought to influence the adoption and use of electronic health records in the past 10 years. Discuss the effectiveness of these efforts. (2–3 pages)

Your Response

The use of electronic health records is not a new concept in the United States. The federal government has been pushing for the implementation of electronic health records (EHR) in the management of patients in both primary care facilities and other healthcare organizations. Use of electronic health records has been shown to boost the quality of care delivered by health facilities, minimize the risk of making errors, promote safe practices as well as to improve communication between the consumers and the different health providers (Palabindala, Pamarthy, & Jonnalagadda, 2016). One of howway the federal government has sought to influence the adoption of electronic health records is through incentives. The incentive program was established in 2009 through the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act by the federal government that saw $27 billion being set aside for the program ( Schilling, 2018). Through partnership with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the federal government has provided payments which act as incentives to the healthcare providers who have adopted the use of electronic health records (Palabindala, Pamarthy, & Jonnalagadda, 2016). Comment by Dr. Steve: Good Comment by Dr. Steve: Very good

Also, the federal government has funded the training of health information and technology workers in a bid to promote the adoption of electronic health records in the management of patients ( Schilling, 2018). By training personnel to know health information and technology, the federal government aims at bridging the gaps that may have been created through lack of proper training of health professionals on matters of health information and technology. In addition, the federal government has set up extension centers in regions across the United States, and the purpose of these centers is to provide technical assistance to physicians and other health personnel who are in the forefront in ensuring that quality of care is maintained through the adoption of electronic health records ( Schilling, 2018). Comment by Dr. Steve: Good

Discuss the effectiveness of these efforts.

The efforts by the federal government have not been in vain since more and more physicians, and other health providers have continued to register to for the incentive program. Over 300 health providers that consists of physicians and hospitals have received incentive payments from Medicare that amounts to more than $75 million due to demonstration of their efforts in the adoption of electronic health records in their facilities ( Schilling, 2018). Over 42,000 health providers have already registered for the program, and they are in the process of implementing the system of electronic health records in a bid to qualify for incentives from the Medicare program that is funded by the federal government ( Schilling, 2018). This is a proof that in future,. EHR Electronic health recordss will have gained extensive usage in the management of patients.

Nonetheless, the process of adopting the electronic health records has not been without barriers. One main barrier is in the investment of time that is needed for health providers like physicians and hospitals to transition into electronic health record system ( Schilling, 2018). Many physicians and other health providers are still not willing to dedicate their time and resources that will see to it that electronic health records have been implemented. There is need for the federal government through its partnership with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to come up with more ways that will attract health providers to enrol to this program. Comment by Dr. Steve: Good start, but your response vaguely describes government programs intended to influence the adoption and use of electronic health records in that you only have discussed the provisions of the HITECH Act. There have been several other initiatives in the past 10 years that have also encouraged adoption in some manner. Please expand your discussion to include some of these, e.g., MACRA and the Cures Act.

Rubric

References Comment by Dr. Steve: Many of your references are not in the correct format.

Belbey, J. (2015). How healthcare can use social media effectively and compliantly. Forbes.

Esmaeilzadeh, P., & Sambasivan, M. (2016). Health Information Exchange (HIE): A literature

review, assimilation pattern and a proposed classification for a new policy approach. Journal of biomedical informatics, 64, 74-86.

Jones, S. S., Rudin, R. S., Perry, T., & Shekelle, P. G. (2014). Health information technology: an

updated systematic review with a focus on meaningful use. Annals of internal medicine, 160(1), 48-54.

Health Information Technology. (2018, March 8). What is HIE? Retrieved from Health Information Technology: https://www.healthit.gov/topic/health-it-and-health-information-exchange-basics/what-hie

Hsiao, C. J., Hing, E., & Ashman, J. (2014). Trends in Electronic Health Record System Use

Among Office-based Physicians, United States, 2007-2012. US Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health

Statistics.

Hillestad, R., Bigelow, J., Bower, A., Girosi, F., Meili, R., Scoville, R., & Taylor, R. (2005). Can

electronic medical record systems transform health care? Potential health benefits, savings, and costs. Health Affairs, 24(5), 1103-1117.

Gardner, K. (2011). Electronic Health Records (EHR).

Legal News Alert: Health Care, (2010). PPACA Emphasizes Use of Health Information