Electronic Medical Records System, Essay Example

An Electronic Medical Records (EMR) system is something which was developed to guide healthcare to more efficient ways of caring for patients through the advancements of technology (Tang, 2003). Although, will this require more training for nursing staff to be able to utilize? Will progress within a healthcare facility hinder due to complications? An EMR system will benefit nursing care because of its ease of access. No longer will nurses rummage through filing cabinets in search for patient information and records; these will be a click of the mouse away from obtaining with the EMR system. Not only will it benefit nurses, but will provide ease for doctors and surgeons, with little risk of mixing up medical files. It is a computerized form of medical records which is designed for the efficient delivery of care in healthcare facilities and organizations. This type of system allows storage, retrieval and modification of information. Will this, however diminish patient-doctor relationships?

Technology does have its benefits; however what are the down-sides to an EMR system? When it comes to electronic health and medical records (EMRs), the digital technology has a few limitations. From the mechanical ability and methods for storage and transmission, to the ways they can be accessed, new and more advanced systems are becoming available every day (Tang, 2003). Does this then mean that privacy within the system is something which is ultimate? Unfortunately, this technology goes hand-in-hand with hackers and their utilization of technology to be able to breach files. Patients have very little say about their participation with EMR, if they have concerns about their records, there is very little they can do about it. Privacy is a similar concern of the federal law; the Health Information Portability Accountability Act (HIPPA) determines how health information may be shared electronically. This provides good opportunities for sharing the information, but it also creates roadblocks, too, when someone other than nursing staff or the patient, wants to access your records. That’s good if the person wanting access isn’t being allowed to get those records.

How can the EMR system reduce medical errors? The aim of every hospital is to reduce all types of medical errors and support Quality Improvement (QI) efforts. This can be done through the efficiency of an EMR system.  All names and identifiers are scrambled within the database; after this is done, no one has access to the scrambled data, except for an analyst. Researchers only have access to data after it is analyzed (once they obtain permission), and only for larger groups of patients, never for a single record. In other words, what you get is things like x% of patients in this geographic area have diabetes, y% were prescribed a cholesterol drug, and z% have a cholesterol level that is at goal (“Electronic Medical Records”, n.d.). However, does this mean that accuracy in information is guaranteed?

The benefit is that you have a fairly complete description of care; if the database is mirrored (sent automatically to a second server), data collection is on-going and is pretty much live. The drawback is that the anonymizers will have to be programmed for each EMR software, since they all work differently (Smaltz & Berner, 2006). You will only get data from a select group of physicians, and there will have to be some extrapolation and assumptions if you say that the data represents an entire population. Will all physicians then know how to use this new type of technology?

Would implementing an EMR system be difficult? In implementing an EMR system, the hospital needs clearly defined goals supporting rationale for the implementation (Coiera, 2003). Other than this, the implementation must remain on-schedule, on-budget completion of the implementation. Human factors, rather than technological issues, underlie most of the challenges that arise with an EMR implementation, this is when my role as a super user comes in; supervising all activity going on within the system, making sure that data remains as accurate as possible (“Electronic Medical Records”, n.d.). After knowing all this information, do you think implementing an EMR system is something which holds potential?

References

Coiera, E. (2003). The Guide to Health Informatics, 2nd Ed. Arnold, London.

Electronic Medical Records (n.d). EMR Experts. Retrieved from http://www.emrexperts.com

Tang P. (2003) Key Capabilities of an Electronic Health Record System. Institute of Medicine Committee on Data Standards for Patient Safety. Board on Health Care Services. Washington D.C.: National Academies Press.

Smaltz, D. & Berner, E. (2007). The Executive’s Guide to Electronic Health Records. Health Administration Press.  p.3

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