Computer Sciences and Information Technology - Essay Example

EHRs are very quick as there is no need for any paper-work for documenting and sharing of the information and images. Thus, an EHR plays a vital role in evidence based treatment and decision-making without having to go through the manual process (Williams, 2010). These enable access to the records even from distant areas by means of online networking. The drawback with EHRs is that they are quite expensive but once implemented, they tend to be very cost-effective. Carter (2008) studied that the concept of EHRs began in 1960s “with the COSTAR system, developed by Barnett at the Laboratory of Computer Science at Massachusetts General Hospital” (p.7). According to him, the earlier efforts provided models and pseudo types on which current “hospital-based and ambulatory” EHRs are based upon.

EHRs can be used as tools for continuity of care and for collaborative performance of healthcare providers. EHRs are a significant contribution to the medical industry since these have modernized the way patients’ data are stored. Disadvantages Research has it that despite significant advantages of EHRs, their adoption rates are progressing rather slowly. Gans et al. (2005) conducted a research on the use of EHRs and IT based tools in the health industry and concluded that most health professionals were not incorporating EHRs, especially in smaller practices.

Their findings suggested that the adoption of EHRs was making progress at a snail's pace; however, the physicians planned to incorporate them in the coming years. They found that this happened because the practitioners found it difficult to choose and implement EHRs. What kept physicians from implementing EHRs in their settings was the knowledge gap. Jha et al. (2009) conducted a significant survey of a number of acute care hospitals to find out the EHR functionality and implementation. They found that out of the 63% hospitals in the US that were surveyed, only 1.

5% had integrated the use of comprehensive EHRs and 7.6% were following a basic model of EHRs. They suggested that the lower adoption rate was due to higher maintenance costs. Linder et al. (2007) conducted a retrospective cross-sectional survey to determine the relation between the use of EHRs in health centers and the quality of ambulatory heath care which they referred to as ambulatory quality indicators. They found that there was no significant performance difference between the centers that used EHRs and those which did not.

Major Competitors in the Marketplace Gold (2011) writes in his updated guide about EHRs about major competitors in the marketplace that are promoting this technology. According to him, seeing the performance of EHRs, it is very likely that EHRs will be implemented in all health organizations in near future taking the place of paper documentation that has been in place for years. At present, the market leaders for EHRs include Cerner, iSoft and Emis. Cerner Cerner is the US based product and “has so far been installed across 16 trusts and more than 70 hospitals since being launched in 2004, as the preferred NPfIT software for London”, writes Gold (2011).

The health organizations that have, at present, employed Cerner EHRs include Kingston Hospital, Homerton Hospital in London, Newham University Hospital trust, and Wirral University Teaching Hospital foundation trust. iSoft iSoft is an Australian company. The US IT firm, CSC, is buying it for implementation. Th