Electronic Health Record System Implementation

Description of the Proposed Project

Health information technology, commonly abbreviated as HIT, is transforming how the healthcare sector operates and has been associated with improved health outcomes. The EHR system relates to the digital or electronic version of patient records, which incorporates patient data (Wolfe et al., 2018). This innovation has been linked with high operational efficiency, better health outcomes, reduced workload, and medical error prevention (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2017). Furthermore, it allows for the creation and management of health data by sanctioned providers in an electronic format capable of being disseminated among care providers across several healthcare organizations.

Stakeholders Impacted by the Proposed Project

  • Clinicians: The allied health staff, nurses, and physicians are crucial to the successful EHR process due to their front-line position in care delivery. These professionals offer vital input into the selected workflow sign process, EHR live support, and system development (Sipes, 2016).
  • Office staff/Office manager: Habibi-Koolae et al. (2015) identify the front office employees, including their leaders, as critical stakeholders during the selection procedure due to their workplace roles. They are usually responsible for inputting patient demographic data and billing information into the EHR system. The organization should implement a system that facilitates their capacity to conduct these duties promptly and as required.
  • Billing manager/team: Employees working under this unit require a technological system that is compatible with the precedent billing innovations or provides a new operational framework and facilitates efficient and proper claim processing. These workers will also be instrumental in ascertaining the implemented system’s speed, preciseness, and performance.
  • Administration/Board Members: Members of a company’s C-Suite will assume a vital role in furthering the project. Buy-in from the C-Suite is crucial given their authority in a company’s finances and management.
  • Marketing team: They will be instrumental in conducting research related to the adopted HIT technology and provide insights regarding patients who might be using the proposed innovation (“Who are the key stakeholders,” 2019).
  • Patients: This particular grouping has a moral duty towards their health and controlling costs.

Patient Care Efficiencies or Patient Outcomes

First, the EHR system will be instrumental in improving the patient documentation process. The proposed innovation will facilitate the recording of a complete vis-à-vis encounter between physicians and patients. Examples of items incorporated in the EHR documentation procedure include radiography reports, x-rays, laboratory outcomes, doctors’ orders, pharmacy prescriptions, patient history, and notes by the doctor or nurse practitioner (Schopf et al., 2019). Second, this innovation will also enhance quality assurance in various healthcare setting operations. It will enable healthcare providers and the healthcare facility to track data they require to adhere to federal and insurance organizations’ regulations.

Third, the EHR system will allow clinicians to track healthcare costs and patient utilization. Hospitals invest significant amounts of time, monitoring patient utilization and statistics. The data is later used when tracking trends in utilization, fiscal reporting, resource allocation, and budgeting (Schopf et al., 2019). This technology can aid in streamlining these procedures and providing real-time and accurate information. When combined with pecuniary data, utilization statistics, it can facilitate increased operational efficiencies and help trace healthcare expenses. Fourth, the proposed innovation will also enhance the portability of health records.

Unlike the conventional paper-based health records associated with significant data availability challenges, the EHR system facilitates access to patients’ health data electronically. This, in turn, enhances healthcare providers’ capacity to send and receive patients’ health information (PHI) anywhere.

Fifth, the posited technology will foster accurate coding and billing operations, which is crucial in contemporary society. Medicaid, as well as other commercial insurance organizations, demand the correct recording of a patient encounter (Wolfe et al., 2018). Imprecise coding may lead to the inaccurate processing of patients’ medical bills, which may cause compliance-related problems. However, the EHR system may help solve this issue by fostering the proper data documentation procedure.

This technology is fitted with diagnosis databases to facilitate correct healthcare claims by billers and coders. Lastly, the proposed informatics innovations have been linked with improved data security. These systems use network firewall security, biometrics, and passwords to protect clients’ records (Nelson & Parker, 2019). EHR systems allow auditors to determine the unsanctioned access to confidential and classified information.

Technologies Required to Implement the Proposed Technology

  • Administrative applications: According to Habibi-Koolae et al. (2015), EHR systems must exhibit a significant administrative importance level. These innovations consist of the patient registration system, which facilitates patient information input into the EHR (Habibi-Koolae et al., 2015).
  • Computerized physician order entry (CPOE): All EHR systems are required to have this application. CPOE is a technology used by healthcare providers to order radiology, pharmacy, laboratory, and other physician orders (Habibi-Koolae et al., 2015).
  • Laboratory systems: Laboratory information systems, typically abbreviated as LIS, are often interfaced into the EHR system to enhance the exchange of patient information and test outcomes.
  • Radiology systems (RIS) are usually interconnected with the EHR system to facilitate the PHI and test outcomes exchange. They are also interfaced with the picture archiving communication systems (PACS), a system with built-in storage systems to enhance the proper management and maintenance of computerized radiography visuals that could be viewed and shared among healthcare professionals.
  • Clinical documentation: This innovation allows nurses, physicians, and other healthcare practitioners to document critical PHI, ranging from clinical notes and reports to medication administration records and clinical assessments.
  • Pharmacy system innovations such as the barcode technology should be linked with the EHR system. These technologies exhibit significant automation levels; they use computerized interfaced robots and med carts to detail physicians’ prescriptions.
  • Clinical decision support systems facilitate health practitioners’ abilities to choose the proper action course during care delivery.
  • Quality management technologies facilitate the tracking of patient outcomes and provide healthcare practitioners with the tools required to report the information to federal organizations.

The Project Team by Roles

The EHR team lead/project manager will be responsible for allocating ownership or duties and monitoring the completion of all tasks related to the implementation process. The project manager will act as the primary contact point between the staff and the EHR vendor (Maiser et al., 2019). Furthermore, the lead physician will be tasked with guiding the healthcare facility throughout the EHR implementation procedure by acting as a link between the technical staff and the system’s front-line users. A tech-savvy physician who approves of the new process will be considered for this specific role. Leads from other healthcare specialties, including nursing, laboratory science, and billing, will also participate in the EHR implementation team.

An IT/informatics lead with the ability to understand the various technical limitations associated with the proposed informatics innovation will also participate in the implementation process. The above-mentioned expert will be tasked with overseeing the technical operations and demands during the implementation procedure. The chief information officer and the information systems director are better suited for this particular role. Their knowledge of clinical IT systems and relevant hardware and software may equip the team with a comprehensive understanding of the technology’s compatibility with other systems and its appropriate use.

The evaluation and selection group will be tasked with prioritizing and identifying the system’s importance in care delivery and analyzing the capacity of the vendor’s products in addressing the distinguished needs. On the other hand, the quality assurance officer’s role will involve aligning the EHR system with clinical objectives. A legal counsel will ensure that the implementation of the system conforms to the legitimate standards and requirements. Lead super users will also be involved in the implementation process; they will act as resident in-house EHR system experts (Mosier et al., 2019). They will be charged with generating templates, creating workflows, and developing standard operating procedures for resolving problems users encounter when they utilize the system.

The Incorporation of the Nurse Informaticist in the Implementation Process

The nurse informaticist will be accorded various duties during the implementation process. First, they will be involved in the process of selecting and testing the EHR system and other relevant applications. Second, these professionals will assess and evaluate the newly implemented innovation and utilize the findings derived from this analysis to help ameliorate the implementation procedure and suggest relevant improvements. Lastly, they will train the nursing staff on how to utilize the EHR system, provide feedback, and monitor outcomes. From the above analysis, it can be surmised that the EHR system’s implementation will help improve operational efficiency and patient outcomes.

References

Habibi-Koolaee, M., Safdari, R., & Bouraghi, H. (2015). Nurses readiness and electronic health records. Medical Informatics Act, 23(2), 105–107. Web.

McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. G. (2017). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge (4th ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Mosier, S., Roberts, W. D., & Englebright, J. (2019). A systems-level method for developing nursing informatics solutions: The role of executive leadership. The Journal of Nursing Administration, 49(11), 543–548. Web.

Nelson, T. L., & Parker, D. C. (2019). Nursing Informatics: The EHR and beyond. American Nurse. Web.

Schopf, T. R., Nedrebø, B., Hufthammer, K. O., Daphu I. K., & Lærum, H. (2019). How well is the electronic health record supporting the clinical tasks of hospital physicians? A survey of physicians at three Norwegian hospitals. BMC Health Services Research, 19, 1– 9. Web.

Sipes, C. (2016). Project management: Essential skill of nurse informaticists. Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, 225, 252–256. Web.

Who are the key stakeholders during electronic health record (EHR) implementation? (2019). HealthIT. Web.

Wolfe, L., MD,Chisolm, M. S.,& Bohsali, F. (2018). Clinically excellent use of the electronic health record: Review. JMIR Hum Factors, 5(4), 1–12. Web.

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