The Role of Electronic Health Record Essay Assignment Paper

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The Role of Electronic Health Record Essay Assignment Paper

 

Electronic Health Record (HER)

The electronic health record or EHR is an informatics software program used in healthcare settings to capture and manipulate patient data. The data includes information about the patient, their vital signs and other biometrics, the tests done on them, the imaging investigations done on them, the prescriptions given, any allergies they may have, referrals, and so on. This technology is required by law in all healthcare settings and its entrenchment was through the Meaningful Use (MU) program (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2021). The MU program was divided into three phases: using federally certified EHR technology (CEHRT) to collect and exchange patient data beginning in 2011, using CEHRT to advance and promote clinical procedures in practice starting in 2014, and using CEHRT to enhance population health outcomes (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2021). The purpose of this paper is to look at the benefits of using an EHR system, as well as benefits of using the Clinical Decision Support (CDS) software application. The Role of Electronic Health Record Essay Assignment Paper

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Some Benefits of Using the EHR

  1. It readily provides information on medications: Medication information is included in the EHR as it assists in the management of medications and prescriptions for all the patients. This has been shown to immensely improve patient outcomes and prevent errors (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2021).
  2. It contains information about Bar Code Scanning: This is an add-on feature that can be included during the design phase of the EHR system. It allows the nurse to scan a special number assigned to each medicine at the time of prescription, facilitating the administration of medication as directed by a clinician. The system notifies her via a pop-up on the monitor if she occurs to scan the incorrect prescription. This has been demonstrated to stop a significant proportion of previously common and expensive pharmaceutical errors (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2021).
  3. It has information on laboratory values: The technology can alert physicians and other end users to critical values as they are loaded into the system when lab test data is entered into the EHR. Additionally, the system will be able to notify the practitioner when it is time to repeat investigations and lab testing. Furthermore, by incorporating this data into the EHR system’s design, duplicate testing and investigations will be avoided. This reduces the patient’s medical expenses and boosts the clinician’s productivity (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2021).
  4. It has information on imaging results: Adding details about imaging results activates a crucial function that significantly raises the efficacy of the providers’ services. The doctor can access X-rays and other radiological reports for any patient immediately from the EHR system using this information. They do not have to phone the radiologist or visit the radiology department in person to accomplish this. Additionally, they always have instant access to the radiologist’s report straight from the EHR system (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2021). The Role of Electronic Health Record Essay Assignment Paper

Some Challenges of Using the EHR

Like any other technology requiring a network, the EHR system often faces network sluggishness that slows down work. Also, the system is vulnerable to hacking or attacks from criminals who are intent on stealing data and information (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2021). As artificial intelligence or AI, the EHR is also limited somewhat in the judgments it can make as it lacks the critical judgment that a human being can do by considering environmental factors. This is to say errors can still occur since the data in the system is entered by humans and the system will just use them as they are. The Role of Electronic Health Record Essay Assignment Paper

The Clinical Decision Support (CDS)

The other software application I have used in the healthcare setting and that is normally connected to the EHR system is the CDS. It can either be integrated with the EHR or be added as an “add-on” (Kuper et al., 2019; Olakotan & Yusof, 2021). CDS systems prevent errors that could be committed by alerting users of the EHR when they are about to make a mistake. This could be double prescription, prescribing a drug the patient is allergic to, or repeating an investigation that has already been done. Indeed, the CDS has helped me a lot improve or streamline my patient care and outcomes.

References

Kuper, K.M., Nagel, J.L., Kile, J.W., May, L.S., & Lee, F.M. (2019). The role of electronic health record and “add-on” clinical decision support systems to enhance antimicrobial stewardship programs. Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, 1–11. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/ice.2019.51

McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K.G. (2021). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge, 5th ed. Jones & Bartlett Learning. The Role of Electronic Health Record Essay Assignment Paper

Olakotan, O.O., & Yusof, M.M. (2021). The appropriateness of clinical decision support systems alerts in supporting clinical workflows: A systematic review. Health Informatics Journal, 27(2), 1-22

The electronic health record is now used in almost all healthcare environments and has been one of the most significant changes for nurses in the healthcare setting in terms of technology. What are some of the biggest benefits and challenges to use of the EHR? What is another software application you have used in the clinical setting and has this helped you with streamlining patient care? The Role of Electronic Health Record Essay Assignment Paper