Health Care Project - Final Paper

Electronic Health Records

Kristina Comer

Rasmussen College

Author Note

This paper is being submitted on November 26, 2014, for Dorothy Moore, Foundations of Managed Care

Thesis Statement

Electronic Health Records system are essential and should be widely adopted to benefit patients and the society in the private and public hospitals due to the expanding population since it is essential for patient data collection in this era.

Introduction

With the advancement in globalization, adopting the EHR system is beneficial. This system is the future of the health care in America. It promises that it will remove the medical field’s many barriers such as saving time, money and lives. However, the matter regarding whether the electronic health records system should be implemented in the whole world is still debatable. Electronic Health Records system are essential and should be widely adopted to benefit patients and the society in the private and public hospitals due to the expanding population since it is essential for patient data collection in this era.

EHR’s Functionalities

Clinical decision support tools

This system assists providers in making decisions regarding patient care

Computerized Physician Order Entry systems

This system allows physicians to enter electronic orders instead of paper orders. This eliminates medical errors.

Health Information Exchange

This system enables different providers to share patients’ information to create service delivery efficiency.

Advantages of EHR’s

Clinical Outcomes

EHR’s have been associated with quality healthcare and patients’ safety. It facilitates efficiency which is providing care at the tight time and in the right manner.

Organizational Outcomes

In relation to EHR’s organizational outcomes includes averted costs, increased revenues improved legal compliance and other benefits

Societal Outcomes

Heath records are used in research leading to quantitative analysis that leads to more relevant and reliable findings.

Potential Disadvantages

Financial Issues

Financial issues that are associated with the adoption include the adoption costs, implementation costs, maintenance costs

Disruption of Work-flows

Electronic Health Systems are also associated with disruption of work flow in the health care providers and medical staff. This leads to temporary productivity losses.

Patient Privacy violation risk

EHR’s also puts the healthcare at the risk of violating patient privacy. This is due to the increased electronic information exchange.

How Mayo clinic uses HER and how it measure its healthcare’s effectiveness

At mayo clinic, the Strategic Healthcare IT department uses the EHR system to enhance patient safety and improve their medical outcomes. Medical information that is contained in this system includes medical history, hospital visits, and examination data and physicians notes. The system was implemented to address patient needs of secondary use of their data. The EHR allows Mayo clinic to exchange patients’ information among other healthcare providers, insurers, government agencies and other stakeholders. Mayo clinic has advance efficiency and quality of patient care by implementing the EHR system.

To measure the effectiveness and results of its healthcare, Mayo clinic uses the standards set by national organizations such as the Joint commission. It uses the standards set by these organizations as a benchmark of the quality of their healthcare. The standards endorsed by the Joint commission and other national organizations are reliable and valid measures of results of any healthcare.

Conclusion

Despite the given drawbacks, the benefits still out do them and EHR’s are essential and the future of American health care providers

References

Lee, A. (2011). Improving the adoption of electronic health record in the US—Lessons from the UK, Denmark, and Canada. Public Health Capstone Course Report. Michigan State University.

Annotated Bibliography

Lee, A. (2011). Improving the adoption of electronic health record in the US—Lessons from the UK, Denmark, and Canada. Public Health Capstone Course Report. Michigan State University.

The article by Lee compares the successful adoption of the EHR systems by other countries to that of the US. The study reported that in the United States, the number of health care providers using the electronic health records systems is 30%. This places the country among the bottom of the OECD countries. The article states the importance of implementing the system. It states that giving the healthcare systems financial incentives is not sufficient. The government and medical associations must also be fully committed to adopt the system. Other requirements provided include a clear statement of the healthcare policies and standards. This aids in the success for EHR adoption nationwide.

Ludwick, D. A., & Doucette, J. (2009). Adopting electronic medical records in primary care: lessons learned from health information systems implementation experience in seven countries. International journal of medical informatics, 78(1), 22-31.

This article by Ludwick and Doucette identifies the current knowledge regarding the adoption of health information systems. The goal of the study is to understand the factors that affect the implementation outcomes of previous health information systems. Factors that affect the implementation as identified by this review include design quality of the graphic user interface, feature functionality, users’ previous experiences and project management and procurement. Other factors identified include the concerns about staff anxiety. Quality of care, time factors, liability, finances and efficiency. From the article, we see that quality of care patient/provider relations and patient care are not affected by the implementation of the system.

DesRoches, C. M., Campbell, E. G., Rao, S. R., Donelan, K., Ferris, T. G., Jha, A., ... & Blumenthal, D. (2008). Electronic health records in ambulatory care—a national survey of physicians. New England Journal of Medicine, 359(1), 50-60.

This review assesses the adoption of the EHR by physicians. It also asses their satisfaction using the system, perceive effects of the system on quality of care, perceived barriers of adoption and other factors. According to the study, physicians believe that using the system will improve quality f care. They are also satisfied with using the system. Previous adopters of the system may however differ from the later adopters. This article is helpful in understanding the perception of the physicians regarding the use of EHR systems