Implementing EHR System at Hudson River - Essay Example

For the implementation of the EHR, a steering committee was organized that met weekly for 4 years and helped to guide various aspects of the project for EHR implementation.  Several aspects of the implementation were planned out and handled by the steering committee including the initial implementation, the rollout of the EHR, placing new functionalities, creating interfaces, and monitoring. The steering committee signed a contract with a vendor. The various aspects of the implementation were coordinated including human resource requirements, logistics of the resources, training, content development, clinical committee coordination, development of workflows, deployment, etc. Besides, partnerships were organized with other parties to aid in the implementation. The committee ensured that the organization was ready to implement the EHR system in the form of leadership, coordination, assessment of the environment conducive to EHR implementation, communication meetings, patient workflows, standardization of data, business planning, technical support and infrastructure, budgeting, etc.

The implementation of the EHR system at Hudson River Healthcare in 2006 was smooth and had huge benefits for all stakeholders including patients, professionals, organizations, and the general public. The implementation began in 2006 and was concluded by 2011. By January 2009, the healthcare center was able to achieve 100% usage of EMR. 100% patient-centered approaches were achieved by 2010. It received the NCQA certification and the registries allowed information to flow and patient information was able to be organized in a better manner. Hudson Healthcare soon became the leader and qualified very highly for patient-centered care. For the clinicians, data could be entered very easily and could be accessed promptly, without any hassles. As information was coded, it was easy to search for specific patient information. Besides, the clinicians also found it easy to place and monitor orders. The best part of the system was that it provided useful tools in chronic disease management. For the organization, it provided huge cost savings and improves the quality of care. Various clinicians could be more easily monitored, and medical errors were reduced. The care that was provided was more timely and effective.  The quality measures concerning safety, timeliness of services, effectiveness, equitable and patient-centered approaches improved from 2006 to 2011. For the patients, the environment in the healthcare centers became more user-friendly, and the quality of care, safety, and outcomes improved, as the EMR’s promoted Evidence-based practices. As the revenue of the hospital improved, the services became effective, and cost savings were in turn provided to the patients. For the community, since the quality of care and effectiveness of services improved, local communities could now trust the healthcare center.

In short, the Hudson River healthcare implemented the EMR system in 2006 and this was fully completed in 2011. There were several hiccups with the implementation, but by and large, the implementation was successful, with huge benefits in terms of quality, effectiveness, equitable, patient safety, patient-centered approaches, implementing Evidence-based practices, etc. The physicians, organizations, patients, and the community benefited from the EHR implementation of Hudson River, thus demonstrating the benefits of IT to Healthcare.