Electronic Heath Records System
The widespread adoption of Electronic Health Records (EHR) systems by different organizations and hospitals across the globe has been attributed to its numerous benefits to both health care providers and their clients (Menachemi & Collum, 2011). EHR simply entails an organized collection and storage of patients’ health information digitally with the use of computers (Evans, Nichol & Perlin, 2006). The U.S Department of Veterans Affairs is undoubtedly one of the largest homes to one of the most developed and integrated HER system. VistA, the EHR system used by VA hospitals, is one of the most familiar electronic medical record systems in USA with close to 65% of all general practitioners trained in USA being familiar with it. This has been attributed to the fact that most physicians during their training rotate through Veterans Health Administration (VHA); the biggest health delivery organization in USA (Turvey et al. 2014).
Through interviews, the benefits of using the VistA EHR system and the impacts of the system to patients were colossal. A nurse who is a frequent user of the system attributes better and accurate diagnostics to the full implementation of VistA EHR in VA hospitals. Better diagnostics that comes as a result of an integrated health delivery platform gives nurses an opportunity to make well informed decisions about their patients’ status (Evans, Nichol & Perlin, 2006). EHR system in VA hospitals has gone a long way in saving time since nurses can easily access information about patients without necessarily having to ask them. Also, nurses working in organizations that utilize EHR systems have better relationships with physicians and other healthcare providers and generally feel safer and contended. The system according to the nursing department has reduced patient wellbeing problems. Through improved diagnostics, readily available health data and easy sharing, patients have an opportunity to enjoy better services.
Physicians on the other hand attribute accurate prescription of drugs to patients to the VistA EHR system. The use of the integrated system has pushed prescription exactness rate to about 99.997% which is not only beneficial to the patients but also the physicians (Turvey et al. 2014). Furthermore, physicians can easily access additional radiological information about patients courtesy of VistA imaging. This not only saves time but also money and effort needed to make diagnosis necessary for patient care. VA hospitals EHR system enables easy consultations between physicians and other healthcare providers since information can easily be shared all for the good of patients (Evans, Nichol & Perlin, 2006). Patients on the other hand can easily be referred between hospitals and follow up is made easier through the use of EHR systems.
In any organization, the department of Finance and administration is crucial in its operations (Menachemi & Collum, 2011). A finance officers charged with the responsibility of clearing and billing clients enjoy reduced paper work as the functions of payment, billing and clearance are digitized. Furthermore, patients’ financial information safety is guaranteed through the use of Automated Information collection system (AICS) which enables easy sharing. Through the VistA EHR system, a finance officer can easily identify veteran patients rather than when the process is done manually. This is simply done with the help of Veteran Identification Cards (VIC) that are identified electronically (Evans, Nichol & Perlin, 2006). Patients on the other hand enjoy convenient and reliable methods of payment through the system. Records about patients can easily be retrieved and shared making service provision faster.
Concept map
References
Evans, D. C., Nichol, W. P., & Perlin, J. B. (2006). Effect of the implementation of an enterprise-wide Electronic Health Record on productivity in the Veterans Health Administration. Health Economics, Policy and Law, 1(2), 163-169.
Menachemi, N., & Collum, T. H. (2011). Benefits and drawbacks of electronic health record systems. Risk management and healthcare policy, 4, 47.
Turvey, C., Klein, D., Fix, G., Hogan, T. P., Woods, S., Simon, S. R., … & Wakefield, B. (2014). Blue Button use by patients to access and share health record information using the Department of Veterans Affairs’ online patient portal. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 21(4), 657-663.
