New Epic EHR Proposal
Medical informatics is a field of science concerned with the management and handling of all types of health data and information by the use of computer technology. The health care system is keen on collecting health data for future use, research and general management of patients. This data, however, over the years has been laid down on paper and at times becomes bulky to manage and communicate effectively. The strenuous process involved in storage, integration, organization and retrieval of the patient’s and medical information, has been a huge struggle for medical personnel. Through the application of electronic health records the health care system has been able to collect a wide range of medical information and more so, communicate it faster. Thus, the healthcare system is in need of health informatics contemporarily than any other time in history.
In the recent years, the adoption of health informatics in the health care systems is one of the best accomplishments that has been experienced in the health sector. Health Informatics have impacted patient care positively and most physicians believe it has eased off the load of data and work they had to handle. According to research most of the physicians confessed that the manual tasks that they had to partake in; slowed them down. They also highlighted that with medical informatics and generally an efficient electric health records system, significantly reduced possible medical errors.
The Medical informatics have also -to the patients- been a boost in their health care experience. Most chronically ill patients initially had to be rushed to the nearest health centers in the rise of symptoms they couldn’t manage at home. Nevertheless, with the adoption of the medical informaticssuch patients only need to access the internet; through the patient portal, they can monitor their own health and more so, can consult their doctor for appropriate healthcare choices. In public health too, the Health personnel can monitor disease trends through health informatics easily. By accessing such information it is easier for the involved organization or government to put in place appropriate preventive steps and interventions. Through the Health Informatics, the public health departments are able to prepare for outbreaks and control them in the early stages.
Despite Health Informatics being notably beneficial to Patient Health Care, they have been linked to some disadvantages. The main disadvantage associated with the patient quality of care is the breach of privacy. Many patients are insecure with their information being shared through computers; most are uncertain of who will have access to the information that otherwise should be confidential. On the other hand, other patients have no ability to handle computers and cannot access information on the websites or set portals (Fatt, 2016).They instead, seek direct contact with the doctor thus being written a paper prescription which they can trust more.
The Health Informatics also can be quite tasking while implementing, they need high maintenance standards and trained personnel to handle the technicalities setbacks. This in the result, will be expensive because hardware must be in constant replacement and upgrading. More so, care providers who have little knowledge on the usage of the electronic health record systems have to undergo a training to improve their efficacy.
Nevertheless, the Health Informatics seeks to bring an improvement to these challenges. To curb the risk of patient information breach the policymakers have adopted measures to promote privacy and safety of the same. For instance, a recent legislation has introduced regulations towards the electronic exchange of patient health information (Menachemi, 2011). This has come has a boost to the existing health insurance portability and accountability Act (Menachemi, 2011). This will make it hard for anyone to access health information inappropriately from the computers. On the other hand, although implementation problems can be hard to solve, the Health Informatics has to ensure the electronic tools purchased for implementation of Electric Health Records, are of set standards and quality. More so,any health personnel should at least have some basics in handling computers before being absorbed in the sector.
Some of the most advocated goals of Health Informatics to improve patient’s Care through electronic health records include; promoting patient safety by reducing medical errors through appropriate data storage (Fatt, 2016). Medical errors are significantly lowered by the presence of cumulative information of a patient. Clinicians are expected to remember patients’ information and previously initiated care and respond to the patient rapidly. This has always been a huge task for the clinicians, however, medical Informatics seeks to reduce this workload and promote a better patient background check. The Health Informatics alsothrough Electric Health recording, aims at acquiring and storing patients’ information such as patient’s ambulatory record, the number of hospitalizations, the test ordering rates, changes in the use of antibiotics and the adverse effects noted, and the presence of chronic illnesses (Menachemi, 2011).
It is evident that Health Informatics and generally Electronic Health Recording of medical data will improve the quality of patient care and boost practice by the healthcare professionals. Its benefits outweigh the cost of implementation, thus there is need of the health care system to embrace it. However, some health personnel shows less interest in training that help them promote its usage. This has to be addressed by giving the physicians, motivation as a form of persuasion to allocate their time partially on such training.The health care system needs the Medical Informatics apparently than in any other period of modern medicine. Its implementation is important to the patients and healthcare providers.
References
Fatt, Q. K. (2016). Implementation and Issues Concerning Electronic Healthcare Records. Journal of Healthcare Communications,1(3). doi:10.4172/2472-1654.100022
Menachemi, N., & C. (2011). Benefits and drawbacks of electronic health record systems. Risk Management and Healthcare Policy, 47. doi:10.2147/rmhp.s12985