Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
is surprised with the incentives they have, doctors are encouraged to take advantage of
the electronic medical record system to maximize their revenues (Friday, K. 2012).
Meaning now with EMR doctors are able to chart that they spend a certain amount of
time in a patients room, and that they assessed all aspects of the patients whether they did
or not. Before electronic charting, doctors had to hand write everything so only the
pertinent information was documented and they didnt have time to hand write extra
information about that patient that they didnt do. Many see a problem with electronic
charting because now when the patient tells the doctor their chief complaint, the doctor
will make a few clicks to pick different words that come close to how the patient
describes their symptoms and an automated prewritten paragraph will appear in the
patients chart (Friday, K. 2012).
Backwhenpatientschartsexistedasafolderandpaper,muchtimewasspent
lookingformisplacedchartsanddistinguishingthehandwritingofeachphysician.Itwas
easythentobelievewhateverthephysicianwrotedownwastrue,becausetheyspentthe
timetoactuallysitthereandphysicallywriteitdown.Intodayssocietywithelectronic
records,itsaseasyasaclickhereandaclicktheretofillinanentirenormalphysical
examonapatient.Thereisalsothecopyandpastetrickthattempsphysicianstouse,
anditworksbycopingpatientinformationfromapreviousdayandpastingitontothat
daysexam.Insurancecompaniespaythephysicianbytheamountofinformationonthe
patientschart,notbytheamountoftimespentintheroomwiththepatient.Thesadpart
aboutthisiswehavephysiciansouttherewhoaremoreconcernedabouttheamountof
moneytheymakeandnotnecessarilyhowwellthepatientisfeeling(Horwitz,L.2012).
MeaningfulUseStage3(MU3)wasimposedbythefederalgovernmentviathe
HITECHActof2009(Graham,2015).Thisstimulusactusedalmost$30billionto
makehealthcarefacilitiesandphysiciansconverttoElectronicHealthRecords(EHR).
ThisprovidedaverylargeinfluxtothecompaniessellingtheElectronicHealthRecords
programs.TwoverylargecompaniessellingpublicEHRareCernerandathenahealth,
whichhaveincreasedtheirpricesovertheNASDAQIndex(Graham,2015).
OneofthelargestElectronicHealthRecordsystemsoutthereistheEpicsystem,
whichmanyofthelargesthospitalsuse.Epicaswellasseveralothersystemsrequires
theirbuyerstosignanondisparagementagreement,whichmakesitlegallyforbiddenfor
thecompaniesthatbuythemtocriticizetheEHRsysteminanyway.Theyarenoteven
allowedtopublishscreenshotsofthesoftwareonhowtouseit(Husten,L.2015).A
majorproblemwiththisiswhentrainingusersonEpic,thehospitalisntevenallowedto
shareimagesofhowthesystemworks,orcriticizeitinanyway.BobWachterisa
leadingphysicianatUCSF,whowroteaboutanincidentwhereayoungpatientalmost
diedafterreceivinganextremelylargedoseofanantibiotic.Thishappenedbecauseof
thepoorinterfacinganddesigningofEpic.InorderforBobWachtertoshare
screenshotstotellthisstory,hehadtogainpermissionfromtheCEOofEpic(Husten,L.
2015).
AnothersecrettotheElectronicHealthRecordsystemthatisnttoldiswhatthe
actualuseofEHRisreallyfor.Theprimarygoalwastoensuremaximum
reimbursementtohealthcareproviders,aswellastoprovidedatatotheupper
managementinordertomanagetheirsystemandemployees.Thesesystemswerenot
createdbyhealthcareprovidersorforhealthcareproviders,butinsteadtheywerecreated
fortopendexecutivestomanagetheirextremelylargeandcomplicatedsystems(Husten,
L.2015).
Severalphysiciansgavetheirinputofwhattheyfeltwouldmakeforabetter
systemforelectronichealthrecords.Onephysicianhighlightedthedangersofthe
shortcutsthathavebeencreatedtomakeformoreefficientworkforthephysicians.
Simplycopyandpastinginformationfromoneareaofapatientscharttoanothercan
saveagreatdealoftimeforaphysicians.Butoftentimesheisfindingconflictingdata
enteredintoapatientschart.Thisisleadingtodangeroustreatmentstoourpatients.
Thiscancompromiseapatientstreatmentandpossiblylengthentheirstayatahospital
orputtheirlivesinjeopardy.Oneotherauthorinthisarticletalkedabouthowaddingthe
patientssignaturetotheendoftheirchartwillensurethephysicianisdocumentingthe
correctinformationandhasgoneovertheinformationwiththepatient.Thiswilladd
morestepstoaphysiciansworkflow,butwillhelptoensurepatientsafetyandprevent
falsedocumentation(Pradhan,M.2012).
Inthelastthreeyears,thehealthcareindustryhasbeenthemostcommonareafor
informationbreachesaccordingtotheIdentityTheftResourceCenter.Manypeopledo
notrealizetheamountofinformationhackerscangetfrompatientsmedicalrecords.
InformationsuchasSocialSecuritynumbers,contactinformationandinsurance
identificationnumbers,alsosecurityquestionsrevealingmothermaidenname,fathers
lastname,yourbirthday,whereyouwenttoschool,andmany,manyotherpersonal
questionssuchasthose.Whenhealthinformationisstolen,itcantakeseveralthousands
ofdollarstoresolvetheproblem,whereaswithstolencreditcards,amaximumlegal
liabilityisonly50dollars(WashingtonPost,2016).
Medicalidentitytheftwasupabout20percentbetween2013and2014,andlast
yearabout2.3millionAmericanswerevictims(WashingtonPost,2016).Thereare
severalstepsthatcanbetakentoensureinformationisprotectedandapersonstayssafe.
Nevergivepersonalinformationoverthephone,individualscanreceivephonecallsfrom
peoplewhoarefalselyidentifyingthemselvesandareabletocollectasmuchinformation
asapersoniswillingtogiveoverthephone.Beselectiveofwhatinformationyougive
tothedoctorsofficesorhospitals,andalsobeselectiveastowhatemailsyouopenup
andrespondto.Besurethatanyemailsthatarebeingsentbetweenyouandthedoctor
arethroughasecurewebportal.Alsobeawarethatanythingthatissearchedontheweb
canbetracked;becarefulastowhatinformationgoesintomobileapps,healthrelated
chatroomsorwebsites(WashingtonPost,2016).
Conclusion
Inconclusion,ElectronicMedicalRecordsystemscanbeveryaffectiveand
efficientwhenusedproperly.Overtime,Ibelievemanyoftheseflawsinthesystemwill
beworkedoutandhandledproperly.Thiswasanextremelylargestepformany
healthcarefacilitiesaswellastheiremployeesusingthesystem.Theusersaswellasthe
manufacturesofthesesystemswillneedtocontinuetoworktogethertodealwithissues
thatarise.InLauraDiassbookHumanResourceManagement,shetalksaboutseveral
differentwaysthatHumanResourcesneedstobeinvolvedinordertomaketheir
companiesrunsmoothingandaffectively.Ibelievethateachhealthcaresystemneedsto
haveaverywellthoughtoutstrategicplaninorderforthetransitionfrompaperchartsto
electronicrecordsrunsmoothly.Acomprehensivestrategicplanwouldcutdownon
severalworkplacestressorsandmakeforamuchsmoothertransitionforeveryone
involved(Dias,2011).
References
Dias, L. (2011). Human Resource Management. Sailor.org/books
Friday, K. (2012, September 26). The Cost of Electronic Medical Records. The NewYork
Times.RetrievedMarch14,2016,from
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/27/opinion/thecostofelectronicmedical
records.html?_r=0
Graham,J.(2015,September30).Cancel,Don'tDelay,MeaningfulUseStage3For
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http://www.forbes.com/sites/theapothecary/2015/09/30/canceldontdelay
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Hackerscanprofitgreatlybystealingyourhealthdata.Areyouprotected?(n.d.).
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greatlybystealingyourhealthdataareyouprotected/2015/11/09/e1f126f6
518111e5933e7d06c647a395_story.html
Horwitz,L.(2012,November22).AShortcuttoWastedTime.TheNewYorkTimes.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/23/opinion/shortcutsinmedical
documentation.html
Husten,L.(2015,April12).TwoDirtyLittleSecretsAboutElectronicHealthRecords.
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