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Switching to Electronic Health Records

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Switching to Electronic Health Records
RUNNING HEAD: MY ADVOCATING IN SWITCHING TO EHR

My Advocating in Switching to HER
By: Amber M. Cadieux
American Intercontinental University Online
January 7, 2011

Abstract
The scenario for this assignment has asked me as a health care employee to provide information on electronic health records. The information I include should provide positive and effective feedback to convince the medical management staff to switch their current record filing system which happens to be paper records to electronic filing.

EHR Continuity of Care and Coordination The staff employed in a medical facility depends on many things to keep the quality of patient care in the positive and efficient. Physicians and nursing need the current and most recent information on a patient to ensure this. The EHR system makes this more possible because the rate for exchange of information increases with this system. It not only provides more accessibility to a patient records from the other facilities and departments that also carry their medical information, but can also ensure the patient will get the best care possible by keeping the staff up to date with their medical information using these coordinating methods. Some of these methods include information such as diagnostic reports where they can be uploaded into the system instantly once complete and offer a faster rate of review for the staff. Did I mention that this system also notifies the assisting staff when these reports are ready for review? Imagine how many live could be saved or changed with this? (Dickerson, Sensmeier, 2010). In a recent study that was conducted where medical facilities with who utilized the EHR system versus the facilities that used the paper system showed significant improvement after six months. Some of these improvements included better documentation and treatment methods as a result to the accessibility of the EHR system. This study also showed a significant improvement in the coordination



References: Amatayakul, M. (2005). Are You Using an EHR Really?Electronic Health Records Can Support Patient Care Cost Effectively But Only If They’re Used as Intended. Retrieved from: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3257/is_11_59/ai_n15786315/?tag=content;col1 Dickerson , A., and Sensmeier, J. (2010). Information Technology: Sharing data to ensure continuity of care. Retrieved from: http://journals.lww.com/nursingmanagement/Fulltext/2010/07000/Sharing_data_to_ensure_continuity_of_care.6.aspx Freeman, E. (2010). Digital Docs: Offices Forced Into Electronic Recordkeeping. Retrieved from: http://columbustelegram.com/news/local/article_ec626ce8-cfb9-11df-940c-001cc4c03286.html Graetz, I., Reed, M., Rundall, T., Bellows, J., Brand, R., & Hsu, J. (2009). Care Coordination and Electronic Health Records: Connecting Clinicians. Retrieved from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2815429 Health Information Systems Managment. (2004). Encyclopedia of Health Care Management, Sage. Retrieved from: http://www.credoreference.com/entry/sageeohcm/health_information_systems_management OSNSuperSite.com. (2010). Ophthalmic EHR System Streamline Billing and Prescribing Functions. Retrieved from: http://www.osnsupersite.com/view.aspx?rid=76021 Whatis.com. (2008). Electronic Health Record (EHR). Retrieved from: http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/electronic-health-record--ehr-.html O’Malley, A., Cohen, G., & Grossman, J. (2010). Electronic Medical Records and Communication with Patients and Other Clinicians:Are We Talking Less? Retrieved from: http://www.hschange.org/CONTENT/1125

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