Nteroperability in EHR implementations Analyze and communicate necessary data from EHR systems - Article Example

Interoperability in EHR Implementations Analyze and Communicate necessary data from EHR Systems Module Question 1:What is meant by “alert fatigue”? How serious of a problem do you think this is? How can it be mitigated?EHR systems being used in the contemporary world today have decision support functionalities that have alerts on drug-drug interaction, drug-lab, drug-dose and contraindication. Thus, physicians using EHR are likely to come into contact with a number of alerts when requesting for referrals that may result in alert fatigue.

Alert fatigue is caused as a result of frustration arising from warning after warning alerts that pop up before an order is accepted when one is using the EHR system (AHIMA 26). The alerts may have been put in place in an attempt at informing physicians on safety issues in regards to the patient. However, their frequency and lack of necessity often incline to fatigue. Alert fatigue is a serious problem affecting health officers and physicians alike. Despite the safety precautions meant by these alerts, their frequency often results in the physician in question ignoring the alert all together (AHIMA 34).

In such a case, the alerts are considered irrelevant and can often result in situations where even the important alerts are disregarded. According to recent studies, the ignore rate for these alerts ranges between eighty and ninety percent.This problem can be mitigated by reducing the number of alerts that pop up during a prescription. In most cases, prescribers are even unsure of why these alerts are generated in the first place. Thus, it would be vital to advice the relevant physicians and medical practitioners on the importance of these alerts (AHIMA 37).

At the same time, alerts should be assigned in such a way that they only pop up to the appropriate practitioner to reduce fatigue. For instance, an alert meant for a physician should not appear in the screen when a pharmacist is describing drugs to a patient. This way, unnecessary alerts would be overridden, which would ultimately help in the reduction of alert fatigue.Module 5 Question 2:What format do you think would be most effective to meet your needs? What type of research and analysis will be required for your RFP?

Discuss any challenges you are facing with this assignment.A request for proposal, commonly referred to as RFP, is a formal request that is often sent by a solicitor to a vendor. The RFP seeks to find out specific responses about the company, its products and its services that meet the requirements needed by the organization. Generally, an RFP includes a comprehensive summary of related costs for both software and hardware, and services for training, support, consulting and implementation (AHIMA 41).

On the other hand, an RFI, which is a request for information, is used by an organization in an attempt at soliciting information about products and services being offers by the vendors (AHIMA 48). This is commonly considered as a fact finding process used as the first step in considering vendors that would be used for future purchases. In the creation of a RFP, there are several resources that could be used in the identification of vendors that could b considered. Some of these resources include a list of certified products by the vendor, professional user groups and organizations and published guides on EHR software amongst others (AHIMA 49).

Since the RFP could be easily considered as a basis for the contract between an organization and a vendor, it is vital for the questions and corresponding responses to be analyzed carefully. This would ensure that a contract between the organization and a vendor is valid and that they all understand and attest to the terms and conditions in place. Work CitedAHIMA. The RFP Process for EHR Systems (Updated). Chicago: AHIMA, 2011. Print.