Jacob E. answered • 11/27/22
Mathematics and sciences GURU
History of Electronic Health Records
The history of electronic health records kicked off in the 1960s in the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, being the first healthcare institution to adopt the system. It would be prudent to note that the electronic health records were so expensive that they were only used by the government as a form of partnership with the different health organizations. Through the 70s, only the biggest hospitals in the United States could use health records. Additionally, they were used for billing and scheduling altogether. More robust information about the patients was added to the systems, as the development of the EHR led to it being more problem-oriented (Hebda, et al., 2005). As the system became more affordable, its availability increased in the 1980s, introducing new fields that could be filled with different clinical information, hence stored as an electronic record. By the 1990s, the technology had already been introduced in numerous principal medical offices; moreover, the computers were used, but only to a limited extent for record-keeping. By this time, it should be noted that the EHR mainly was perceived as academic materials for both inpatient and outpatient medical facilities, including the data interchange for processing medical information and image scanning for the capturing documents within the system (Hebda, Czar, & Mascara, 2005). Presently, EHR has increasingly become paperless, as most of the information has become computerized. Patients' records have become more accessible than before as data technology has become comprehensive and portable.
Benefits of Electronic Health Records
Saving on space is one general benefit of using EHR. Medical and office staff no longer face the challenge of time wastage brought about by sorting through paper records. This is because users now have access to EHR quickly and more efficiently, with just a few clicks of the keyboard. One healthcare provider benefit of using electronic health records is that it assists healthcare providers in making decisions regarding patient care. EHR system includes numerous potential capabilities; by using the clinical decision support (CDS) tools, it helps provide the medical assistant with the latest information concerning the drugs to be administered to the patients and any form of allergic reaction that the patient might possess (Hebda, Czar, & Mascara, 2005). With the continual growth of the medical industry, each of the functionality brought about by the benefits of EHR help provides means for patient care to be delivered safely while simultaneously more efficiently. Moreover, this helps the medical practitioners reduce the probability of medical errors, thus increasing the same efficiency.
Function for certified EHRs
To efficiently capture and share the health data needed, healthcare providers should have certified EHR. Certified EHR technology offers the user a high degree of assurance that an EHR system seeks to give forth the necessary technological capability, security, and functionality that meet the meaningful criteria. In this regard, the certification helps the patients and providers be more confident in the electronic health records products, as they can maintain the confidentiality of the information while subsequently working with other systems. (Hebda, Czar, & Mascara, 2005). One of the core functions of a certified EHR is to simplify the lab results, make the testing the same more efficient, and improve patient care. For instance, the NextGen healthcare information system offers faster and more reliable lab results, easing the practitioner's effort to recognize and address abnormal results (Hebda, Czar, & Mascara, 2005). Moreover, the system lets one share the test results with the patient while at the same time helping in importing the results into the local HER system, thus improving patient engagement within the healthcare industry.
Such a feature has proven to be necessary as it helps the medical institution, putting them one leg up in the game when it comes to decision making. In this regard, diagnostic tools help guide the clinicians through different steps of a patient diagnosis, thus reducing the time taken to by patients when receiving a manual diagnosis while eliminating the probability of misdiagnosis. Moreover, clinical decision support plays an integral role in improving an institution's care quality, faster treatment, and reduction of errors. Such tools help increase one's quality score, healthcare practice efficiency, and overall patient satisfaction.
