Adaptation of the Electronic Health Record System - Essay Example

"Adaptation of the Electronic Health Record System" is a wonderful example of a paper on the health system.
Advantages

Several advantages come with the use of electronic medical records. The movement of medical information electronically may assist in providing safe and high-quality care for patients while setting up proper enhancement for the organization (Devkota & Devkota, 2013). EHR assists in the provision of better care management for patients and the provision of better healthcare through improved provision of complete and accurate information about patients during care. It allows for easy access to patient data for efficient and well-set care. It ensures that information is shared securely (Devkota & Devkota, 2013).

Additionally, it assists in the effective diagnosis, safe care, and reduction in errors. It also improves convenience through complete documentation and accurate billing and coding. Furthermore, it enhances the security and privacy of patient data.  Finally, it reduces the cost incurred in paperwork, and it reduces test duplication. 

Disadvantages

Despite the benefits of EHR use, several potential disadvantages have been identified with this technology. These include unintended consequences, security, and privacy concerns, reduced productivity due to the adoption of EHR, changes in workflow, and financial issues (Rollins, 2012). In financial issues, including the costs for adoption and implementation, incentives for the adoption, revenue associated with the loss of productivity, and ongoing maintenance costs (Rollins, 2012). EHR disrupts workflow temporarily for the healthcare workers, and this leads to a decline in productivity.  Another disadvantage is associated with the risk of violating the privacy of patients. Furthermore, EHR may lead to other unintended consequences such as the rise in medical errors, negative emotions disruption in the structure of power, and overreliance on technology.

Legal Implications

Several legal implications come with the use of electronic health records. It brings about risks for the claims for medical malpractice. Even though EMRs provide several opportunities, there are risks of medical malpractice, mostly during implementation. There is an increased chance of medical errors (Rollins, 2012). There are usable tools on EHR systems, and this may be seen to reduce medical errors. However, over-reliance may lead to medical mistakes. Also, these systems are vulnerable to fraud claims. This is because of the billing systems that may be manipulated, leading to fraudulent billing (Rollins, 2012). Computer systems are also vulnerable to unauthorized access, theft, and breaches to protect health information. There have been several breaches reported, and these are mostly associated with the use of electronic health records

Ethical Implications

Most medical processes often have ethical implications, and this is not an exception. EHR  systems should be able to maintain the laid down respect for patient autonomy, and the decisions made should be about the ownership, content, and access of the records (Rollins, 2012). However, this comes with high patient autonomy that may affect the medical and legal utility for the records. Injustice, EHRs can improve quality care for most people, which makes it more equitable (Rollins, 2012). However, there is a digital injustice due to the socioeconomic divide. EHR systems may increase this divide, thereby hindering lower socioeconomic patients from getting regular care. In beneficence and non-maleficence, EHR systems provide an opportunity to improve medical research from patients (Rollins, 2012).

On the other hand, outages of the systems may lead to the loss of patient medical information, which may lead to increased losses, which would be critical for the patients. Backups should be set up as these would improve patient care. Patient information is essential in confidentiality and privacy; losing it could lead to minor embarrassment to loss of employment and insurance (Rollins, 2012). Privacy may conflict with beneficence, where sharing of information may lead to the loss of data. Patients' access to information may be restricted; however, too much restriction may lead to harm to the patients.

Adaptation to vulnerable populations

EHR can easily be adapted to vulnerable populations. Through this vulnerable group of patients is being identified, such as those with mental illnesses, solitary confinement, and the injured (Devkota & Devkota, 2013). Adapting information from these people allows the improvement of care and better monitoring from the hospital. Also, alerts can be set to ensure that they can remember actual times to visit hospitals (Devkota & Devkota, 2013).