Electronic Health Record and Meaningful Use Objectives in Nursing
Electronic Health Records
| Pros | Cons |
| Improve the quality of care: I believe electronic health records are easier to read compared to most physicians’ handwriting. EHR helps to reduce risks of errors that might result from misinterpretation of particular health information, which may significantly affect the quality of patient care (Campanella, 2016). | Associated with potential privacy and security issues: In my opinion, computer networks are today vulnerable to hacking, and that is the case with EHR’s. Medical information can fall into the hands of unauthorized personnel who may use it to take advantage over particular patients. |
| EHR’s are convenient and efficient: With electronic health records, I believe that health professionals can quickly and efficiently access patients’ information from a click on the keyboard, rather than wasting much time sorting out numerous paper records to access medical information of patients. | Inaccurate information: I think because of the instantaneous nature of EHR’s, medical professionals must update it every time a patient visits the facility or whenever there is a change in information. However, if it is not updated, other health professionals may use inaccurate data whenever engaging a patient in various treatment procedures (Kruse, 2016). |
| EHR’s help to save office space: In my perspective, the use of electronic health records eliminates the need for medical professionals to store documents in bulky cabinets that might consume a lot of storage space. EHRs help to save space that health professionals can use to store medical supplies and other equipment. | EHR’s tend to frighten patients needlessly: In my perspective, although EHR’s allow patients to access their medical records any time they need particular information, they create panic and confusion whenever a patient misinterprets a particular file entry. |
Stage 3 Objectives for Meaningful Use
Record Electronic Notes in Patient Records
Clinical record keeping is an integral component in good professional practice and the provision of quality care to patients. Good clinical record keeping allows for continuity of care and helps to enhance communication amongst the health professionals. Consequently, electronic health records need to be updated whenever appropriate by the multidisciplinary team, which is involved in offering care to a particular patient (Zhan et al., 2015). Therefore, as an advanced nurse practitioner, the objective of recording electronic notes in patient records can significantly influence my nursing roles and responsibilities. The practice would require me to record accurate medical information, and update a patient’s records in case there is a change in information or the patient visits the health setting again. Adopting such an approach will allow continuity of care and enhance communication between other professionals and me, whenever they are involved in a particular patient’s care while I am off duty. All that would translate to improved patient care. It implies that, if I record inaccurate electronic notes on a patient’s records or fail to update it in various situations, then I would be accountable for various risks that might occur during the delivery of care to a particular patient.
Provide Patients the Ability to View Online, Download and Transmit their Health Information within Four Business Days of the Information being available to the EP
The goal of this objective is to allow patients to access their information as quickly as possible and enable them to discuss their health information with their close family members or other health professionals (De Moor et al., 2015). After discussing their health records, patients can share some changes that need to be made. This objective can also significantly impact my role as an advanced nurse practitioner. It can allow me to make changes to a particular patient’s health records, information that he or she was not willing to share with me as a nurse. That can help me to update the information to enable continuity of care and enhance communication between other health professionals and me as a nurse.
References
Campanella, P., Lovato, E., Marone, C., Fallacara, L., Mancuso, A., Ricciardi, W., & Specchia, M. L. (2016). The impact of electronic health records on healthcare quality: a systematic review and meta-analysis. The European Journal of Public Health, 26(1), 60-64. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckv122
De Moor, G., Sundgren, M., Kalra, D., Schmidt, A., Dugas, M., Claerhout, B., … & Kush, R. (2015). Using electronic health records for clinical research: the case of the EHR4CR project. Journal of biomedical informatics, 53, 162-173. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbi.2014.10.006
Kruse, C. S., Kristof, C., Jones, B., Mitchell, E., & Martinez, A. (2016). Barriers to electronic health record adoption: a systematic literature review. Journal of medical systems, 40(12), 252. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10916-016-0628-9
Zhan, L. X., Branco, B. C., Armstrong, D. G., & Mills Sr, J. L. (2015). The Society for Vascular Surgery lower extremity threatened limb classification system based on Wound, Ischemia, and foot Infection (WIfI) correlates with risk of major amputation and time to wound healing. Journal of vascular surgery, 61(4), 939-944. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvs.2014.11.045