Technology advancement has facilitated the improvement of healthcare delivery and patient education by providing platforms that facilitate the development of information shared in different systems. Health ministries tend to adapt the new advancement in the healthcare technology. Similarly, the use of various types of technology in the healthcare has significant results including the delivery of equitable healthcare and reducing the likelihood of errors in the healthcare service delivery (Nazi, 2013, p. 70). For instance, the Electronic Health Records (EHR) is an example of the current technology in the healthcare system that has seen the advancement of sharing of patients’ information as well as educating patients and nurses about procedures of offering excellent healthcare. The EHR is a computer-based application that assists the health practitioners in obtaining, keeping, and analyzing the information sources regarding the history of medical information of their patients (Ball, Weaver & Kiel, 2013, p. 283). Patient education is also enhanced with the use of the EHR technology application through the availability and access to the monthly online published healthcare information seen in clinical simulation. Regardless of the advantages observed in the use of EHR, the application faces several challenges that could be avoided. For example, Hung, Tsai & Chuang, (2014) claim that the application requires a significant amount of funds for the installation, control, maintenance and requires much time in operating (p. 332). Therefore, the present paper discusses the use of the EHR technology program aimed at improving the health care system.
The Use of EHR
The Electronic Health Records has contributed to the development and advancement of the healthcare service delivery in various ways. For instance, the application of technology development in the health system through EHR would see the health facility utilizing the software in decision-making procedures (Krist et al., 2014, p. 764). EHR has developed cooperation between the caregivers and the patients in the healthcare system thus; improving the way health practitioners refer and relate to the patients’ records. The availability of EHR systems in the health care industry would help the health professionals choose the best way to present health information concerning their medical records. For example, the best way to inform a patient about his or her medical records would determine the impacts of the healthcare practice that they are having. Patients are educated through the provision of their medical records through the application of EHR system. Most patients would be advised on how to read the presented health information. Educating patient should be the core focus for the health practitioners. Furthermore, the system is used to acquire information from the different patient later manipulated to suit the needs of the health professionals (Ball, Weaver & Kiel, 2013, p. 284). For instance, a patient may provide the relevant information regarding his or her sickness and the physicians would utilize the information in proposing the possible medication.
Additionally, the EHR would be helpful in the research and training purposes. Patient research could be based on the available data stored in the EHR system to forecast and discuss any effect of an individual disease. For example, 42% of US health facilities use EHR system in their daily activities (Pathak et al., 2013, p. 342). The EHR application could be useful in speeding up of the healthcare operations. Accessing the required patient data would be used to provide the care to the patients as the doctors and nurses would have quick access to the necessary information of the patients. Nazi, (2013, p. 70) ascertains that EHR could be shaped, utilized, consulted, and managed by any health practitioners through the learning of the health records of the patients in a particular health facility. Health information helps the health professionals in helping the patients learn their records of healthcare delivery through the use of EHR and other clinical technology developments and software. For instance, the use of Electronic Medical Records would optimize the workload of accessing and analyzing the relevant patient information.
Significance of EHR
The use of the Electronic Health Records in the healthcare delivery has contributed to the development and improvement of the health department. For instance, the provision of health services has become timely based where health practitioners respond to the available patients on time (Nazi, 2013, p. 70). Similarly, the use of EHR has reduced the risks associated with the information regarding the patients. Patients are bound to access and learn about their healthcare development through the access of health records and the information recorded monthly in the simulation nursing platforms. EHR has as well increased the communication platform where patients could be advice through an online platform (Pathak et al., 2013, p. 344). The use of EHR in communicating to the patients is based on the need for informing and educating the health practitioners about the progressive development of healthcare delivery. Doctors utilize the information stored in the EHR to assist patients in understanding the process of healthcare delivery.
Additionally, the use of EHR in a health facility has increased the efficiency level. The management could utilize the available resources in communicating with the employees as well as access the relevant information regarding the patients (Krist et al., 2014, p. 766). The use of EHR in the healthcare services is bound to increase the safety of the patients as well as reducing the risks associated with lack of information regarding patients’ health records. The system has provided a unification platform where managers and the employees cooperate strictly with the aim of improving the healthcare service delivery. According to Hung, Tsai & Chuang, (2014), the EHR utilization has increased the reliability of the information obtained from the patients (p. 333). For instance, a patient could provide the information on his/her health conditions and the nurses would use the simulation platform to search for any other possible health history of the same patient. The health records would assist the nurse in acquiring the information concerning patients’ health conditions as they demonstrate the concepts and teach the health practitioners.
Advantages of EHR
The presence of the Electronic Health Records in the healthcare technology development has recorded the benefits associated with the provision of health services. The use of EHR has helped to increase the accuracy of the patients’ information (Pathak et al., 2013, p. 345). For instance, the information recorded and stored in the system could never be lost. Similarly, the other users of the data would not be mistaken since the electronic data has no errors compared to the manual recording. EHR is accessed quickly compared to other sources of patients’ information. Furthermore, the use of EHR system helps in securing the private data concerning a patient and could be easily shared from one practitioner to another as well as the patient. Using EHR in healthcare services could as well improve the interaction between patient and the health professionals (Ball, Weaver & Kiel, 2013, p. 287).
The use of EHR in a healthcare facility would reduce the storage space needed for manual or paper records (Krist et al., 2014, p. 769). For instance, the management would do away with the store management since the system only requires software and online storage system. Furthermore, the use of EHR could be utilized in providing the prescription to the patients that have minimal errors and providing advice on the development of healthcare services. Doctors using the information would communicate and share the needed data through online media such as emails (Hung, Tsai & Chuang, 2014, p. 335). The health facility could reduce the costs of storage management as well as the workforce needed to record manual information. The EHR only requires simple typing in the computer system, and the information would not need much time. New nurses could utilize the presence of EHR system to learn about the health facility by using the information stored in the system that defines the core values as they have been developed and advanced by the former practitioners. Furthermore, the increasing efficiency and reduction of slow medical services would assist the hospital in increasing its productivity hence, focusing on the profit maximization (Pathak et al., 2013).
Disadvantages of EHR
The use of EHR technology development in the healthcare system has observed several challenges disadvantageous towards the health practitioners as well as the health facilities. The costs of acquiring the EHR in a particular health facility would be much higher than expected (Hung, Tsai, & Chuang, 2014, p. 336). Computer programs and software are said to be expensive to install, maintain, and repair thus, becoming a challenge mostly towards small health care facilities. Besides, the use of EHR and other programs has led to the increase of security bleaching when hackers and other users with socially unacceptable motives could illegally access the patients’ information with the aim of manipulating the patients or hospitals (Krist et al., 2014, p. 770). For example, a hacker would access the health data and post them online imposing a threat to the affected patients.
The maintenance of the EHR programs should be accomplished by the need for computer literacy. The rate of computer literacy is yet to reach 90% in the whole world hence, meaning that some health practitioners would be limited to use the EHR system (Nazi, 2013, p. 70). The use of CIS and the computer software could be halted by the breakdown of the hardware of equipment. For example, computers are known to hang when they are managed improperly or overloaded with loads of data. Therefore, their use would be limited when such obstacles face a health facility. The use of computer systems in a hospital means that the nurses would be required to work for more hours in the stages of feeding or perusing the EHR system in search of patients’ records (Pathak et al., 2013, p. 347). The act could lead to overloading the employees who would demand a pay rise or refuse to use the systems in the health care delivery.
Professional Standards Seen in EHR
The standards governing the use and application of technology in health care are discussed by the Healthcare Information Technology Standards (HITS) that articulate the importance, usage, and requirements of every health facility (Nazi, 2013, p. 70). However, the platform aims at ensuring the improvement of healthcare technology and the control over the healthcare facilities’ adherence to the documented standards. For instance, the International Standard 01 Electronic Health Record (EHR) Laboratory Results Reporting articulates the specific recommendations that a specific healthcare facility should comply to (Nazi, 2013, p. 70). Similarly, the standard aims at increasing the awareness of the use of EHR and other electronic systems profitable to the healthcare services.
Conclusion
The advancement and development of information technology in the healthcare system have led to the improvement of healthcare service delivery as the applications introduced assist the health practitioners in redefining their strategic operations. Similarly, the use of Electronic Health Records in healthcare delivery is welcomed due to the reduction of errors and improvement of data storage facilities as well as initiating patients’ education procedures that have increased the efficiency of the healthcare records.EHR has as well discovered the inclusion of simulation as a nursing platform to improve healthcare information delivery to the nurses in improving the health services and providing patients’ information. However, the installation, use, and maintenance of the system have become a challenge to numerous healthcare facilities experienced the need for improvement thus, increasing the costs of maintaining and the need for further adjustments. The use of EHR has enabled the healthcare industry to increase its efficiency and improve the quality of health services.
References
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Krist, A. H., Beasley, J. W., Crosson, J. C., Kibbe, D. C., Klinkman, M. S., Lehmann, C. U., … Peterson, K. A. (2014). Electronic health record functionality needed to better support primary care. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 21(5), 764-771. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/amiajnl-2013-002229
Nazi, K. M. (2013). The personal health record paradox: Health care professionals’ perspectives and the information ecology of personal health record systems in organizational and clinical settings. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 15(4), e70. http://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.2443
Pathak, J., Bailey, K. R., Beebe, C. E., Bethard, S., Carrell, D. S., Chen, P. J., … & Huff, S. M. (2013). Normalization and standardization of electronic health records for high-throughput phenotyping: the SHARPn consortium. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 20(e2), e341-e348. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/amiajnl-2013-001939
