Benefits of using an electronic health record system
WEEK 5 DISCUSSION
Electronic Records
Because the use of electronic health records continue to be a focus of health care reform efforts, it is vital that nurses understand how electronic records impact their own nursing practices. Reflect on your reading and the media program from this week. Think about how the use of electronic records changes health care practice, patient safety, and quality of patient care. Then, consider the following:
• If your work setting has an electronic health record system used by nurses, how have nursing practices changed since those systems were implemented?
• If your work setting does not currently have an electronic health record system, imagine two nursing practice changes that might take place if one were implemented and evaluate those changes as positive or negative, explaining why you think this way.
With these thoughts in mind, respond to the following:
• What, if any, problems have you or nurse colleagues encountered in using an electronic health record system?
• Overall, do you and your colleagues think the changes brought on by the use of electronic records are mostly beneficial or detrimental? Include at least one example.
Support your ideas or those of others with references from the professional nursing literature.
Post your response by Day 3 of this week. Cite the references used in APA style format
Electronic Records
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Electronic Records
Introduction
There has been an increase in the use of electronic health records (EHRs) in the healthcare facilities in the recent years. This is due to the recent efforts aimed at reforming the health care. With this regard, a lot of literatures has been published on the impact of EHRs on the nursing practice. This research paper seeks to critically examine the benefits of using EHRs to the health care practice, patient safety, and quality of patient care; and the problems associated with the use of EHRs.
Benefits of using an electronic health record system to the health care practice, patient safety, and quality of patient care
A number of studies have established that the use of an electronic health record system has brought positive changes on the quality of patient care, patient safety as well as the health care practice (Bowman, 2013). For instance, the use of electronic records facilitates easy access to accurate and complete records. Consequently, this has resulted in improved diagnostic and patient outcomes due to the fact that patients could receive improved medical care. Similarly, the use of electronic health records (EHRs) has enhanced the patient diagnostic procedures and thus mitigating or even preventing the medical errors in the healthcare facilities. In addition, electronic health records have assisted in diagnosis. With this regard, the health care providers could have reliable access to the complete health data of the patients. This comprehensive information could assist the healthcare providers to diagnose the medical conditions of patients sooner and thus preventing or minimizing deaths. Furthermore, the use of EHRs has enhanced patient safety via various mechanisms. These include: improved clinical notes’ legibility; enhanced access to patient records; and reduced duplication tests among others.
On the other hand, the use of electronic health records has resulted in improved productivity and efficiency. This is due to the fact that, with the use of EHRs, the laboratory results could be retrieved more easily and hence saving money and time. This is contrary to the use of manual records whereby a lot of time is wasted in moving the results from the laboratory to the patient...