Application of the Electronic Health Record System - Assignment Example

Application of the Electronic Health Record System al affiliation In the health care system, technology is widely applicable in various systems such as registration of patient, patient self-monitoring, laboratory testing, and data monitoring. In addition surgical procedures are more precise by sophisticated medical equipment making treatment effective. Accurate diagnosis and treatment of patients is now achievable through technology. Technology has enabled hospitals to be more competent, providing patients with improved patient care that results to positive outcome. Information technology encompasses mobile technologies, electronic medical records, and telehealth services. Electronic databases in particular are making patient care safer and reliable. Electronic health records are used to store the patients’ basic information, laboratory tests results, records of vital signs and medical history. For instance, EPIC electronic health record system is used for this purpose. This information can be referred to later by nurses and doctors to ensure that the right treatment is being administered. Moreover, patients can be able to access their own medical information so that they can understand the treatment procedures that they undergo. Moreover, these electronic health records can be used for predicting data and population in future. Electronic healthcare databases have been used to find out the number and types of drugs that can be monitored for safety surveillance. (Coloma, et al., 2012). The patients’ history can be used to determine the cause of diseases by studying trends which is useful in medical research. EPIC is used by the entire healthcare community that is management, health care practitioners and patients. Incorporates patient portal, electronic health record and practice management. The patient portal allows clients to access services online. All the patients both in patient and out-patient will be targeted by the electronic record system. The patient is able to request for appointment and receive notification regarding the requested appointment. The patients can also request for prescription refills, and access their own patient information such as medical history. The patients can also receive education regarding self-care enabled by two way communication between the patient and the health care providers. The financial and administrative information including the health insurance information and patient demographic, billing and appointment and scheduling are in the practice management. The basic information of the patient, the medical record, clinical suggestions for the appropriate treatment options , drug prescription component and a means to submit requests for laboratory tests and receiving their results. The dynamic role of EPIC comprises reducing the need to rely on memory for information to complete a certain task. The collaboration aid enables communication of information which may between patient to physician or physician to physician. The system is able to integrate information from different sources and reduce the need to mentally group, compare and analyze information unlike other systems. The system is highly recommended for the patients’ needs such as acute episodes, chronic conditions, preventative and health promotion, and undifferentiated symptoms. EPIC can be easily used because of its features. EPIC electronic record system allows organization of collected data, a smaller storage, easy accessibility and retrieval. The electronic system replaces the manual paper documents, folders and filing. The system allows fast, transactional processing that is real time (on demand) such as laboratory reports. The system also reduces redundancy since the patients should have unique registration numbers. This makes the staff working at the registration office work efficiently with less strain. In addition, the system is able to capture huge amount of information that is cost effective. In general, an electronic healthcare system results in improvement in patient level measures and quality care and reduction in medical errors (Escobar, Gardner, Greene, & Draper, 2013). However, the use of EPIC to store information has several demerits. The data can be lost easily therefore it requires to be stored externally for back up. Moreover, the amount of raw data is overwhelming since all the health care personnel are required to convert the raw information into useful knowledge (Menachemi & Collum, 2011). The advantages outweigh the disadvantages of the electronic database system proving its value in the healthcare system. There are challenges that interfere with implementation of EPIC electronic health record system. It is difficult incorporating older paper medical records into an electronic medical system. The scanned images of the hard copies are not clear and illegible handwriting is hard to read. Long term storage of health records could also be complicated and the integrity of the archived data may be compromised. It is unknown how long electronic records should be preserved. Furthermore, it may be difficult to synchronize records from all the elements of the electronic database. Privacy concerns also pose a major barrier in implementation of electronic records. The EPIC electronic record system requires appropriate hardware. Adoption of electronic records database requires funds and may not be adopted due to costs and lack of training of staff are some of the challenges in electronic records implementation. The health care providers such as nurses, pharmacists and physicians should be trained on the EPIC electronic record system. Training should include education on how to operate an electronic database, the merits and demerits of electronic database and effective implementation of the system. Additionally, the health care personnel should be trained on ethics such as ensuring privacy and confidentiality of the patients’ medical records. Due to the sensitivity or the patients’ personal information, access to the electronic records systems should be limited. Training should be done by information technology experts who are knowledgeable and experienced in electronic health records system. Evaluation of the effectiveness of the EPIC should consider the importance and the impact on the efficiency on care for patients. The system should also be compliant with patients’ private data and the effectiveness and interoperability of the integrated database system. The electronic health record system should be easy to use by both the physicians and the patients. Ensuring the quality of the electronic system is essential in evaluation. Assessment should include monitoring the impact of the technological system on patient care. The strategies in evaluation should focus on the ability of the electronic record system to improve on the quality of health care. Implementation of electronic record system has improved the physicians to make well informed decisions about the patient safely and quickly because accurate up to date and complete information. There is more coordinated patient information that leads to efficient care. The medical errors are reduced and patients can be easily diagnosed making care efficient. In patient care, the electronic record system enables more reliable prescribing that leads to positive outcomes. Electronic record system ensures the safety of healthcare providers by reducing the strain therefore are able to attend to more patients effectively (Barnes, 2013). In conclusion, the application of an EPIC improves on quality and safety since they reduce strain on the cognition and memory of the health care provider. It is a safe, effective, efficient, patient centered, equitable, and timely delivery support tool. The implementation of electronic records database will have an affirmative impact on the efficiency of the doctors which will in turn improve on the treatment outcome of the patients. (Job, Bachmann, Schmid, Thiel, & Ivic, 2013). References Barnes, S. (2013). The Epic Implementation of a Comprehensive Electronic Health Record System: Mount Sinai Medical Center. Journal of Clinical Engineering, 38(3), E9-E14. Coloma, P. M., Trifiro, G., Schuemie, M. J., Gini, R., Herings, R., Hippisley-Cox, J., . . . Sturkenboom, M. (2012). Electronic helathcare databases for drug safety surveillance: is there enough leverage? Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf., 21(6), 611-21. Escobar, G. J., Gardner, M. N., Greene, J. D., & Draper, D. (2013). Risk adjusting Hospital Mortality Using Comprehensive Electronic Record in an Integrated Helath Care Delivery System. Medical Care, 51(5), 446-453. Job, O., Bachmann, L. M., Schmid, M. K., Thiel, M. A., & Ivic, S. (2013). Assessing the efficacy of the electronic patient record system EDeR: implementation study - study protocol. BMJ Open, 3. Menachemi, N., & Collum, T. H. (2011). Benefits and drawbacks of electronic health record system. Risk Management in Helathcare Policy, 4, 47-56. Read More