Electronic Health Record System - Essay Example

?Running Head: Technology Impact Paper Technology Impact Paper Inserts His/her Introduction Technology has brought manychanges in different fields. Rapid development of communication technology and computer sciences has revolutionized the world and has paved the path for future research. The effects of technology can also be seen in the field of medical and health sciences. 21st century has seen use of different types of technology that aim at aiding medical practitioners. Diagnostic equipment has become increasingly sophisticated giving doctors’ great amount of help in determining diseases and infection quickly and efficiently. But the impact of data collection and storage technology has been the greatest in the field of medical sciences. The importance of data management is great in the field of health sciences and technology has aided greatly in this area. In this paper we will talk about Electronic Health Record System and its impact on a health center. The value addition that the technology has provided to the organization will also be discussed. Outline support plan for workers of health center and customers will also be presented. Importance of partnership of the health center with technology companies will also be discussed. Electronic Health Record System Electronic health record system is a system for collection of information about patients (Gunter & Terry, 2005). Information of all sorts in included like that of demographics, previous health information, personal information like date of birth, height, weight, allergies, blood group etc. This information is kept in a user-friendly format using a specialize software and it is stored in a central database that can be accessed by the whole health center. At times this information is also shared between hospitals so that doctors can get accurate information at all times. In the field of medicine it is extremely important to record all relevant information of patients to timely diagnose health problems. It is also essential to record all information in order to provide quality services to patients. This is why collecting information is essential in the field of medicine. Electronic health record system allows management of data in hospitals so that doctors can use information to make timely decisions. At times the system also helps make decisions by using probabilities and other statistical tools. Electronic health record system stores data in a digital format and therefore its circulation is fairly easy. This system is destined to take place of all paper based records in health care facilities. It also allows doctors the benefit to edit and change information easily. This is another reason how it benefits doctors. The system is also capable of storing information for a long time. This makes it extremely feasible for medical facilities because it gives them information for a long period of time. The digital nature of the information stored gives facility to medical practitioner to get information quickly. It is especially helpful in situations of emergency. Electronic health record systems are also of many types and different programs and software can be used by different hospitals. This is why the system offers flexibility for medical facilities. Programmers can make use of this opportunity to make different forms of the electronic health record system. Introduction of System to the Customers Customers are also extremely satisfied with the new electronic health record system. This is because all their information is available to the doctors as soon as they visit the hospital. This makes it easy for patients as well because they don’t have to carry their medical records at all times The introduction of the electronic health record system was made slowly so that customers are able to digest the change. At one time both paper and electronic health record system were being used so that no information is lost. Also proper paper records were maintained so that the system could be checked and rechecked after its implementation. The change was also not easy to digest for doctors because they were used to paper based records. Most doctors are also not young therefore they found it difficult initially. Most of them didn’t trust the system to be effective and there were some mistakes too in recording data. This is why little problems came up at the time of implementation of the electronic health record system. The system was appreciated by the customers when they started to get quicker services. For example now tests like blood tests and other normal tests were not required to be taken regularly. This saves time of the patients and this was something that was appreciated by the customer of health care service. Customers were also being informed constantly about the benefits of the system. This also helped in increasing the awareness of the electronic health record system for the consumers. The idea behind it was that customers will be able to better adapt to the new system and will support by giving information to the health center. Value Addition from the System The value addition from the electronic health record system has been great. All the information doctors need is a click away from them. This has aided the decision making of doctors as now they have help from the technology. Not only they have all the information, they have all the information at once. So they can make quick association through graphical data and charts. Also data can be compared from different published studies with the help of internet. This has helped greatly doctors in their work. Another benefit of the system is that it saves time and cost. If patient’s health records are recorded then less time is spent on regular checkups and tests for allergies and blood groups. Time is also saves and at the same time resources of the health center. Customers in turn get high quality services in shortest possible time and this makes everyone happy as a result of the implementation of the new technology. Use of technology has made the health center paper free which is not only good environmentally but has reduced hassles especially for the nurses. They can now relax because they can make entry using computers. They have also become more efficient because first they had to go note everything on paper. After a little training they have become efficient in using the system. There are also some challenges posed by the system which cannot be ignored. The cost of implementing the system is great because software will have to be designed and custom made according to the requirements of the health center. This is why significant cost is associated to the electronic health record system. Also training cost is an important expense that has to be incurred. Support Plan There is no major support plan for customer because the system is used by the health center. Customers are only required to give their information and photograph to the health center. This was not easy because customers were not willing to give their private information. They were initially hesitant of giving their information for the record. Doctors played a role in making customer aware of the possible benefits of the system. Customers were also given hard copies of all their information so that it can help them if they visit another hospital in future. With all these techniques it was made sure that everyone was at ease using the electronic health record system. The support plan for doctors was tough as now they had to use computer screens and tablets to make decision. Nurses were trained to record and double check all the information they recorded. They were also trained to update information quickly. Partnership with Technology Partners The support of technology partners is extremely important in the effective functioning of electronic health record system. It is vital that technological glitches are avoided because any problems may prove fatal. Any power shortage or machine breakdown during critical information can physically hurt patients. At present doctors maintain a physical file of patients side by side but this can go on for very long as it is against the whole philosophy of the health record system. The partnership is also vital in order to make quick changes in the program or software. Sometimes health centers want changes to be made in the software so that they are more easy to use. At times health center introduces new service for consumer and changes are required for that. All this requires partnership with software companies. Customers also need to be satisfied about the secrecy of their private information (Thede, 2010). It is the job of health center to make sure that customer information is not used in any form of market research nor it is viewed for purposes other than health. This will help making the experience of the customers’ positive with respect to electronic health record system. Conclusion Electronic health record system is another addition of technology in the field of health services. The system digitally record information of patients like their demographics, weight, height, allergies, blood group etc. This information is vital for decision making and previously doctors had to rely on paper based records. Now they can have all the information they want at one place. This makes everything extremely easy for nurses and hospital staff. Customers also get great services in less time because the new system increases the efficiency of the hospital. References Gunter, T. & Terry, N. (2005). The Emergence of National Electronic Health Record Architectures in the United States and Australia: Models, Costs, and Questions. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 7(1)   Thede, L. (2010). Informatics: Electronic Health Records: A Boon or Privacy Nightmare? The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, (15):2 Read More