HIMS 661 UMDC EHR Planning Discussion

Hi, Please, read and respond to peers’ discussions in 100 words minimum with credible references in APA style.

Peer 1:

Electronic Health Record (EHR) is s a digital version of a patient’s paper chart. EHRs are real-time, patient-centered records that make information available instantly and securely to authorized users. While an EHR does contain the medical and treatment histories of patients, an EHR system is built to go beyond standard clinical data collected in a provider’s office and can be inclusive of a broader view of a patient’s care. EHRs are a vital part of health IT and can, contain a patient’s medical history, diagnoses, medications, treatment plans, immunization dates, allergies, radiology images, and laboratory and test results, allow access to evidence-based tools that providers can use to make decisions about a patient’s care and automate and streamline provider workflow.

What needs to be considered in terms of strategic planning when it comes to implementing an EHR system?

For an EHR to be successful, its foundation should be based on clear objectives. As all organizations and practices are different, it is very important to consider all existing systems and protocols when planning implementation and changes. All individuals of the organization are needed to be involved in the implementation of the new system. Having a clear idea of what the EHR system needs to do has a further benefit for practices in that it allows to better compare vendors. All good EHR system will comply with regulations such as HIPAA and ARRA. Having a clear set of objectives helps practices when it comes to comparing products and carrying out cost and benefit analyses (Jaana et al, 2014).

The ability to employ the right vendor, policies and standards is of great importance. The methodology and use approached reveals an effective improved internal relationship and an ensured commitment to the final IT strategic plan. Several lessons are learned including the maintenance of a dynamic approach capable of adapting to the fast technological evolution involving stakeholders, the assurance of continuous communication by using the effective tools to support all plans and the final products in the existing models (Jaana et al, 2014).

How might EHR planning relate to the strategic planning process?

EHR planning is related to the strategic planning process for the creation and adoption of electronic health records in an organization. This together with creating a team of experts to assess the potential barriers and develop strategies to eliminate potential issues and allocating financial resources, can help to overcome most important barriers to the adoption of electronic health records. EHR systems help to facilitate the use of e-health and are the most important and most complex type of health information system. In terms of the availability, accessibility, and accuracy of data, EHR systems are highly dependent on other information systems in the field of healthcare. Obviously, standardization and the strategic planning of other systems will accelerate the process of integration and creation of EHR systems (Jaana et al, 2014).

Consider what goals an organization may have for implementing a new EHR system.

Goals to consider will be to:

1) Safety concerns which are unique to EHR technology. Device failures and both natural and man-made disasters are inevitable. The potential consequences of an EHR failure becomes of increasing concern as large-scale EHR systems are deployed across multiple facilities within a health care system, often across a wide geographic area. These broadly distributed systems may be tightly coupled and lightning fast, but that also means that a malfunction can rapidly affect not only a single department or institution but possibly an entire community (Sittig et al, 2012).

2) Mitigate Safety Concerns Arising from Failure to Use EHRs Appropriately

Certain patient harms can be prevented when EHRs are used appropriately. For instance, EHRs can facilitate and standardize the transfer of information between providers and help close the communication loop by promptly notifying providers when test results are abnormal. However, these benefits are predicated on the assumption that EHRs will be used correctly and as intended in routine practice (Sittig et al, 2012).

3) Use EHR to Monitor and Improve Patient Safety

To achieve the goals of including initiatives to improve patient safety and to facilitate the prevention of safety events, electronic data must be used to help detect, manage, and learn from potential safety events in near real-time. The stakeholders include the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), the Joint Commission, and the recently formed Partnership for Patients. In the current methods used to measure safety events, there is an overreliance on incident reports, which detect only a small proportion of events (Sittig et al, 2012).

Goals must be technically feasible, financially prudent, and practically achievable within current constraints and be accompanied by specific guidance on achieving them. Input on these goals must be sought not only from EHR developers and clinical end users but also from cognitive scientists, human-factors engineers, graphic designers, and informaticians with expertise in patient safety in complex health care environments. Creating a unique EHR-related patient-safety goals will provide new momentum for patient-safety initiatives in an EHR-enabled health system (Sittig et al, 2012).

References

Jaana, M., Teitelbaum, M., & Roffey, T. (2014). IT STRATEGIC PLANNING IN HOSPITALS: FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE. International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care, 30(3), 289-297. doi:10.1017/S0266462314000269

Sittig, D. F., Singh, H. (2012). Electronic health records and national patient-safety goals. The New England journal of medicine, 367(19), 1854–1860. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMsb1205420

Peer 2:

Implementing a new electronic health record (EHR) takes time and several processes. As the appointed EHR Project Manager it is important to consider the strategic planning in order to make clinician’s professional lives easier, while making sure patient health outcomes are better and their heath care experiences is suitable. (Wallace, 2014) An electronic health record is an information system that organizations use to collect patient’s health information throughout their life span in order to be registered, certified, and share amongst different health providers. (Ayatollhai, Mirani, and Haghani, 2014) Strategic planning is believed to be the effective functioning in healthcare organizations. Strategic planning increases the likelihood that the organization’s stricture, strategy,culture, and other key choices will fit together and fit within the emerging environment. (Begun, Hamilton, and Kaissi, 2005)

When it relates to strategic planning there are several needs to be considered, especially financial barriers. The reason for those financial barriers is because of the lack of strategic planning. (Ayatollhai, Mirani, and Haghani, 2014) Other needs to consider are the consequences of planning for stakeholder’s commitment to the implementation of the EHR, market share, and clinical quality. (Begun, Hamilton, and Kaissi, 2005) According to Scott Wallace, organizations utilizes two different types a strategies for strategic planning; Business strategies and corporate strategies. Business strategies focuses on individual service lines like orthopedics and create value for different segments of patients by providing services and solutions to meet their needs. Corporate strategies on the other hand, seek to increase the value of the businesses by operating the businesses under one corporate umbrella. (2014) A good tool organizations can used when applying strategic planning is a SWOT analysis. A SWOT analysis can open up new possibilities for a short period of time and advantages can develop during that time. (Shahmoradi, Darrudi, Arji, and Nejad. 2017)

EHR planning relates to the strategic planning process is by guiding the project manager and other stakeholders to consider the chronological differences in the impact of strategic planning in the implementation of the EHR. “Your internal processes drive workflows throughout your organization. If you assemble a multi-disciplinary team (which is highly recommend) to evaluate your EHR options, ask each team member to identify key processes that may change down the road. Internal changes like switching to an outcomes-based treatment plan or adopting new reimbursement models can impact your EHR needs”. (Qualifacts, n.d.)

References

Ayatollhai, H., Mirani, N., and Haghani, H. (2014, Oct 1). Electronic Health Records: What Are the Most Important Barriers? National Library of Medicine. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4272437/

Begun, J.W., Hamilton, J. A., and Kaissi, A.A. (2005, July 1). An Exploratory Study of Healthcare Strategic Planning in Two Metropolitan Areas. Journal of Healthcare Management. Retrieved from https://eds-s-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.umgc.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=0&sid=464b5535-c95e-46fe-bff8-1d7b5bcbc913%40redis