Electronic Health Records
Note: From"5 Emerging Technologies And Their Impact On Health Informatics" by E.Smith, 2020 Business Magazine
Introduction
As time goes by, we need to enhance the care that we give to the patient to improve their way of their living. Technologies have a big impact to proceed in the advancement and improvement of care. And people need to be well informed and trained regarding how to use the technologies to be more efficient and effective. People should accept and appreciate the changes that may happen when we incorporate technologies into our daily lives.
Informatics influences healthcare in a lot of ways, it urges healthcare professionals to embrace changes and grasp integrated informatics solutions. Hence the demand for information systems to be aware of both advantages and disadvantages grows as more information systems are being placed in healthcare organizations (Murphy,2017).
Canada Health Infoway
https://youtu.be/Lo_3qOejQzI
What is Electronic Health Records(EHR)?
Health informatics has significantly changed the healthcare sector, enhancing the effectiveness and productivity of healthcare professionals then subspecialties were also discovered such as Nursing informatics in the year 1850s. With all this improvement in the healthcare system with the help of technology, the transition from paper charting to Electronic Health Records (EHR) has begun. Electronic Health Records are the electronic version of the paper patient chart and information that is readily available on the computer of the healthcare facility and can be accessed by most healthcare providers.
Electronic Health Records improved the workflow of all the nurses and other healthcare professionals in the healthcare industry as it’s easy to access. Imagine the process of the Nurse’s role before, from traditional paper charting which took a lot of time in writing nurses progress notes to each patient instead spending time of providing care directly to the patient.
Note: From https://pixabay.com/vectors/ehr-emr-electronic-medical-record-1476525/
ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORDS: Then, Now, and in the Future
Electronic Health Records improved collaboration with the other healthcare team such as Doctors when relaying laboratory or imaging results became more efficient now because of the help of Electronic Health Records, all the results are readily available in the patients’ files but of course, still, we need to secure the privacy of the patient wherein only health care team members who are taking care of the patient should have the access to the chart of the patient. Nursing informatics contributed to healthcare as it improves patient safety by incorporating technology and nursing care plan from assessment to implementation of care.
Erreurmed https://www.erreurmed.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/error-pills.png
nursingmanthra.com https://th.bing.com/th/id/OIP.WJOpQGQ0Iw9WDwTj6PNJOwHaEO?pid=ImgDet&rs=1
Did you know?
When Electronic Health Records started medical errors decreased as it enhanced the precision and clarity of medical records in order to decrease the possibility of medical errors. In the traditional way of charting the patient, we used paper charting. And one of the most complicated things in paper charting is carrying out a doctor’s order because sometimes it is not readable and different understanding to us nurses and sometimes it may result in the incorrect implementation of the order. And one of the most common errors is related to medication.
Carrying out written medication orders may sometimes be complicated and challenging because you need to remember always the rights of medication administration. Even one of these might put patients' safety at risk if they aren't checked properly. One of the advantages of Electronic Health Records (EHR) is Medication reconciliation, wherein you gather all the medications of the patient and put them in the system then the system will read if there is any error or discrepancies in the medication list. In this way, we can prevent any risk to patient safety related to medication errors.
Information about the patient is readily available and it will result in faster treatment for the patient.
Using electronic health records would save up a lot of space in the healthcare institution compared to paper charts, which must be guarded and require a large area for information to be stored.
With the use of the patient portal, patients may have access to their documents, including test results, appointment schedules, prescription lists, and recent vital signs, whenever they need to.
Doctors can see the other the progress notes of the other doctors to check for any treatment conflicts and to avoid duplication of laboratory tests.
Nurses can spend more time with the patient.
Reduce medication errors.
Easy collaboration with the health care team members to discuss and formulate a plan as the patient progress notes and laboratory, and images are available in the system for every team member to review.
Patient information might be stolen or hacked by someone.
Because all patient information is stored in the system, patient treatment is disrupted when the system is offline.
The system may provide with incorrect or partial data if it has not yet been updated.
Health care providers need to be computer literate to understand the use of EHR, and need training every time there is an update in the system.
References:
Fossel, M & Dorfman S (2013) Electronic Health Records: Strategies for Long-Term Success. Health Administration Press. https://senecac.skillport.com/skillportfe/assetSummaryPage.action?assetid=RW$14085:_ss_book:74357#summary/BOOKS/RW$14085:_ss_book:74357
Kohli,R & Swee-lin, S (2016) Electronic Health Records: How Can IS Researchers Contribute to Transforming Healthcare? (Vol.40) https://web-s-ebscohost-com.libaccess.senecacollege.ca/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=0&sid=29afb00f-431a-45f3-a2dc-e1b9c0fcc43a%40redis
Masters, K (2018). Role Development in Professional Nursing Practice (5th ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC, https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.libaccess.senecacollege.ca/lib/senecac/detail.action?docID=5555417
Mcmullen, P., Howie, W., Philipsen, N., Bryant, V., Setlow, P., Calhoun, M., & Green, Z. (2014) Electronic Medical Records and Electronic Health Records: Overview for Nurse Practitioners, https://senecacollege.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/fulldisplay?docid=cdi_proquest_miscellaneous_1747341117&context=PC&vid=01SENC_INST:01SENC&lang=en&search_scope=MyInst_and_CI&adaptor=Primo%20Central&tab=Everything&query=any,contains,electronic%20health%20records&offset=20
Murphy, G. & Weber, P. (2017). Forecasting informatics competencies for nurses in the future of connected health : proceedings of the Nursing Informatics Post Conference 2016 (Murphy, W. Goossen, & P. Weber, Eds.). IOS Press. https://senecacollege.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/fulldisplay?docid=alma997250713403226&context=L&vid=01SENC_INST:01SENC&lang=en&search_scope=MyInst_and_CI&adaptor=Local%20Search%20Engine&tab=Everything&query=any,contains,Forecasting%20Informatics%20Competencies%20for%20Nurses%20in%20the%20Future%20of%20Connected%20Health%20:%20Proceedings%20of%20the%20Nursing%20Informatics&offset=0
Wright,A (2014). Clinical Problem List in the Electronic Health Record. Apple Academic Press, Incorporated. https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.libaccess.senecacollege.ca/lib/senecac/detail.action?docID=1762894&query=electronic%20health%20records#
Please free to send feedback and suggestion by commenting on the Discussion board.
Joshua Zarmae Umali
jumali3@myseneca.ca
https://www.melbar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Feedback-Suggestions-Web-Cover-EN-2048x1072.png