Healthcare Technology Featured Article

May 03, 2013

Electronic Health Records Lead to Challenges


Even before Congress passed “Obamacare,” there was a push to see more use of Electronic Health Records.

Not every practitioner has signed on to EHRs – but advocates say soon all medical records will be accessible electronically by all doctors and hospitals.

In this way, EHRs will benefit patients, providers and hospitals, such as providing lower costs. But, there also are some difficulties ahead.

“The road to health-care nirvana is going to be bumpy — and expensive,” a recent report from Forbes warns.

As of now, about 70 percent of doctors use electronic health records – and there are challenges for many health-care providers.

“Adoption by clinics has been sluggish,” Forbes reports. “Some software chosen by providers is difficult to manage. And even when good systems are in place, too few practices realize the benefits of fully integrating technology into patient care. Also, electronic health records systems can’t communicate with one another.”

There are some suggestions on how to best implement EHRs.

Organizations need to make sure they identify their EHR goals. These are described as a “technology intention,” according to a report from Healthcare Technology Online. Organizations also need to know which EHR technology they want and identify what they want to accomplish as a result, the report said.

Some of the far-reaching goals in the implementation of EHRs include: ensure there is a buy-in by the entire organization, make sure unique workflow and data requirements are identified,  remember to connect sometimes “disparate IT systems based on standardized data terminology,” allow the exchange of health information by mapping data sets, and use customization, the report adds.

“Despite the clinical and administrative bene?ts that have been realized by early EHR adopters, there still exists throughout the industry fear, uncertainty and doubt as to the sustainable value of this technology,” the report says. Some of the concerns relate to costs, interoperability, work?ow disruptions and job security.

The report also recommends naming someone to be the “change agent” for EHRs. Also, by creating work?ows for each administrative and clinical function it will “help guide the selection of the system itself,” the report said. “Ideally, organizations should identify solutions needed up front and select a system that is capable of integrating and aligning with those solutions.”

“The healthcare industry recognizes that achieving interoperability — the capacity to connect disparate EHR systems based on standardized data terminology — is essential to the success of electronic health information,” the report continued. “If health data cannot be shared electronically, the EHR simply becomes a standalone technology capable of talking only to the sum of its parts. This scenario defeats the overarching purpose of EHR deployment, which is to enhance patient care and streamline efficiencies through the exchange of data among decoupled systems.”




Edited by Stefania Viscusi
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